One of a Kind
by the-fluffy-otaku13
Summary: Yato, the last Wall-E on Earth, finds a plant while cleaning up humanities' waste. Not long after, an Eve sent from the luxury space cruise Heaven's Sun lands on Earth looking for something. Despite a rocky start, they'll need each other when faced with large humans, a relentless blonde Secur-T and her army, a Mo with no family, and a Co-pilot with a vendetta.
1. Chapter 1

The air was a visible mustard brown with dirt particles and other debris mixed in. It gave the natural sunlight a dull glow, not enough to illuminate the hunks of useless metal that orbited the wasteland. On the planet, similar junk made up mountains, piled high against windmills and phone poles. Lose paper and plastic bags caught against the skeletons of old sky scrapers that have long-since collapsed into more rubble. Everything old, rusted, and abandoned; covered in the same brown dust that seemed to make up the planet itself.

On the outskirts of the city, the trash dunes were much smaller. Pressed into compact squares and piled into neater cubes. Pathways between these heaps curved and stretched on for miles, the darker shade of brown the dirt made showing which were the most traveled on. Traveling at a relaxed pace, an object made it's way through the cubes with practiced ease, not even glancing at it's surroundings. Old 80s music echoed from the object, traveling without any clash.

The speaker was a small, bright pink electronic, plugged into another machine. This machine was imbedded into a creature that was once human, but now a cyborg of ancient technology, made only to clean up the leftovers of man-kind's time on Earth. As he traveled, a short breeze or two ruffled his black hair, greasily pulled back into a short pony tail. The pink iPod was shoved into the pocket of a light brown fullbody coverall. One of many small nicknacks in one of many pockets. The jean fabric more than wore down, but with every rip stitched back together almost seamlessly. On his right breast pocket, the name 'Yato' was stitched in black, below the title 'Wall-E'.

The trash cleaner made his way to the nearest non-compacted trash pile and took a deep breath through his oxygen mask. Sitting down the small cooler he carried, Yato reached above his shoulder to grab hold of a lean metal handle, his brain send the signal for object to unlock. The metal clasps embedded in his back fell open and the flatted compactor came lose. He brought it to the front of him and set it on the ground. Opposite to the handle was a folded steel box that would click into shape. In the middle was a heaver iron square that molded into the handle. Once set up, all the cyborg had to do was gather as much trash as can fit in the hollow box bring the handle- with the lid- on top and press down. After the trash was in a neat square, the Wall-E would yank the handle up and let the cube roll out before placing it next to the billions of others.

This jostling woke up a small cockroach, who peaked outside a soup can to see what the ruckus was. At the sight of the cyborg, the insect squeaked and made her way over to the pile that only grew as the years went by. She made her way up the piles without much effort and sat herself on the new block. At the sound of her squeak the trash-collector turned with a wide smile.

"Stray!" he exclaimed cheerfully, "You're awake! Goodmorning!"

At his words, the cockroach let out an annoyed shriek. Yato recoiled but never ceased smiling.

"Sorry. Nora. There is that better?" Yato reached a hand out to her waiting for her to climb on. Nora flicked her antenna and crawled on slowly, with her nose in the air.

"I don't know why you like the japansese way better," he said as she settled on his shoulder, "though I guess Nora is more of a name." he mumbled the last part. Grinning at her when she chirped in agreement.

To his left, something shiny caught his eye. Making his way over to it, Yato moved aside some old newspapers and found a trash can lid. He held it up and watched as the sunlight shone even brighter against the silver disk. Yato's blue eyes didn't look away as he moved the light to different parts of the lid.

"Pretty cool, huh? Rare to find something not rusted." He said, walking back to where he left the cooler and placing it with the other treasures found earlier that day. On his shoulder, Nora's head made the movement of rolling her eyes. Yato contiuned back down the path that winded around a skyscraper made of the trash-cubes. Nora faithfully on his shoulder. He made his way past the abandoned super store, its food long since degraded and any other item caked in dust. Some of the hallow gram advertisements flickered on and off, their color long since dulled and the music coming out slow and deep. One sign stood out to him, just for a moment, the sign posted across the globe long long ago. "Become a Wall-E and save the world! Be taken care of and live for ETERNITY!"

Yato remembers his father, a biotechnical engineer who lost all faith in mankind. Who chose to stay far away from the rest of humanity- here on Earth- but remained human. He remembers being the first sucessful Wall-E test subject of his father's design. Outliving his creator and all the other Wall-E volunteers who later realized money is irrelevant as a cyborg without a government.

Nora made a soft noise and Yato gave her a small smile- covered by the oxygen mask- and continued on his way, his footsteps echoing in the empty city.

When they made it to the train tracks, Yato looked both ways out of habit, then made his way north. Walking down the tracks, Yato stood above 'The Graveyard'. A place where Wall-Es that forever stopped working were laid. Most of their organic bodies have eroded away, leaving behind their inorganic parts. The young woman he helped lay down decades ago, was a special friend to Yato. the last of the Wall-Es. Except for himself. Yato took a deep breath in, his filter has become more and more worn down by the particles.

The stairs creaked as Yato padded down them, dirt falling in an avalanche to the ground below. He silently and carefully weaved among the older remains, looking to take only what he needed. One mask looked hardly touched, so he pocketed his old one and quickly exchanged the new. It wasn't as if he lungs needed clean oxygen, but the filtration is what kept him going so long in the first place. The owner of this one, either ignored it in favor of their new 'immortality', or no longer wanted to live forever.

By now Yato had reached the old transit staion. Large bridges connected to tall stair cases that hovered over empty terminals, deep enough to fit a blue whale and long enough to fit the Empire State building. Twelve of these ports were lined up for this station, all empty without waiting for return. More advertisements flickered into action as the Wall-E went by. Nora hissed at the reassurance the audio gave as it showed family deals for the Outer Space Luxury Cruise Liner. Pictures of Yato's former colleges compressing the trash in the local dump flashed by in a promise for the humans to return to a better home.

As he walked through more advertisements popped up, one for the main cruise: "Heaven's Sun"- mostly just called Heaven-which would hold the majority of the upper class and the worker-bots like Yato, as well as the very first space branch military. It held promise of the best food, comfort, and entertainment out of all the other cruises. Heaven's Sun is lead in this flocks departure, with a captain and cyborg copilot.

Yato stared again at the picture as the advertisement kept glitching. The promise was for five years. It was well past that. Of course the planet wasn't cleaned up yet, so of course they weren't back. But Yato hasn't heard word from Heaven asking for an update, or if they were even coming back. Or even if they were still out there.

On his shoulder, Nora buzzed. Yato didn't look at her.

"Did I ever tell you my dad designed the copilot after he worked on me?"

Nora didn't answer. He had, many, many times. The two had long since run out of new things to talk about, other than Yato's dreams or things Nora found. The copilot stared back with glowing red eyes and a small smile, his hair a light brown color, it matched the dust that littered the atmosphere.

By the time Yato made it home, it was dusk. He lived in an old massive semi-trailer, modified to open only at the pull of a lever. The inside was also modified to have rotating shelves, in order to neatly hold all of Yato's findings and necessities. Odd shiny nicknacks tied together with string hung from the ceiling, along side Christmas lights and posters. The lamps and lights all connected flickered on once Yato flicked up a hanging switch.

Once the door was closed and the air filter was on, Yato tugged off the mask letting out a large sigh, hanging it up on a hook. He then took off his ascot and hung that up too, before letting his hair fall out of its tie. He then set down his cooler of goodies and opened it. First came the trash lid, which he placed with the other shinnies. Next came some Capybara land keychains- each wearing different color overalls and a crown- which went with the other small Capybara toys. He continued emptying the box, a lighter with other lighters, a glass bottle, a pink scarf.

He had a movie playing in the background, often playing it when he got ready for work in the morning but it was finished by the usual clock-out time. But today he had called it quits early, so the movie was on the final scene. The lady capybara and the man capybara having successfully made it to an island together, after a harrowing journey. Yato crept closer with shiny eyes. They sang a beautiful song of love, having made it through together because of it and now never having to be alone.

Yato numbly took out his iPod and hit record, placing it next to the TV's speaker. His eyes never leaving the screen. He watched them sing while gazing into each other's eyes, their hands held between them, twining together seamlessly. When they leaned in for a kiss, Yato's eyes got even bigger and his heart did a bittersweet dance.

The movie then faded to black and showed the names of humans that created it. He sighed again and clicked the television off, taking his iPod as he did so. Walking back towards the the door he opened it again, placing the mask back on as he did so. He then plopped down on the ramp and began shaking out his cooler, feeling the wind shift as he did.

Yato looked up as he dusted the box, and himself, off. The smog clearing so that the stars could be visible. It filled Yato with the same wispy feeling the movie did, so he pressed play on his new recording. It echoed off of the small round speaker just under his chin, filling his bones with the melody. That was until is mainframe sent an alert through it. The song cut out as the alarm blared though the night. His blue eyes quickly flickered back and forth, numbers and words flashing through his parifial.

His vision went red when he focused to the front of him, the words 'Weather Alert' and 'Danger' flashing. A massive dust cloud was barrelling towards his home at an alarming rate. This wasn't common, but it wasn't unheard of. Regardless, Yato quickly got back inside, calling Nora as he did so, and shut the door before any dirt could get in.

He wouldn't be able to go out for a while so, it was time to hit the sack. Yato gave Nora some food, eating some dry ramen as well, then made his way to the bare mattress in the far corner next to the TV. He flopped down and threw the blanket haphazardly over himself, ordering his system to set an alarm for the morning, then go into sleep mode. Yato was asleep instantly.


	2. Chapter 2

Yato's alarm went off the next morning, slowly pulling him out of a deep sleep. The noise was less urgent then the warning from last night's dust storm, but bounced around his skull none the less. He heaved himself off the mattress with a groan, his limbs and eye lids heavy. As he woke up, so did his systems, the screens blinking to life along side his vision. The first message saying his charge was low and would need to be replenished soon, while the other gave him the usual schedule of clean-up.

Getting up to a low battery was like waking up sore with a hangover. No wonder he turned in early. Yato groaned and stubbled towards the door. Pawing at the wall to get his oxygen-mask and ascot off the hook. He put both on, looking down to see he slept in his boots again. He debated putting on another pair but decided to wear these ones out completely.

The brown-tinted sunlight blared down strong this morning. Yato unzipped the top of his brown wearalls, tying the sleeves around his waist. Along the underside of his forearm, flat green panels were where the soft skin should be. Embedded there was a flexible solar panel, the easiest way to charge his battery. Yato laid back down on the top of semi-trailer, belly down with his arms at his side, and let the sun light soak into his systems. Due to smog-covered sun, this way of charging took half the day. But it was necessary, where as eating and drinking was not. It also lasted much longer than any food had previously done.

Yato opened his eyes at the sound of the battery being full. He stood and zipped back up his uniform. Nodding to Nora who had crawled her way up, he climbed back down the ladder and grabbed his cooler after locking his compactor to his back. When he stepped on Nora as he made his way down the ramp, he quickly got on his knees to apologize. The cockroach buzzed at him in irritation before making her way up his leg and on his shoulder. Yato nodded at her, then set off to work, his compactor still clasped on his back.

The hours ticked on as usual. The cubes of trash forming a large square base as Yato's cooler filled with the treasures he found. He made his way to the next pile, tossing aside a fire extinguisher- having already learned his lesson- and found an old refrigerator. This was tricky, he would have to remove everything then bring the large object to the dump to have it compresses by a much larger machine.

When the door wouldn't open, he pointed his right finger at it, signaling the laser to shoot. He started at the top and slowly made his way to the bottom, allowing the door to split down the middle and fall apart. What was behind the door had him pause.

"Nora...What is?" Yato's voice was nothing but a whisper. He gazed at the anomaly that shown a bright green. Stark against the dark brown waist land. 'Prunus Serrulata- Japanese Cherry Blossom' his main frame supplied. After a moment he thought on how to best take it back with him. The instructions on how to properly relocate a plant showed up, he read them while Nora jumped down to take a closer look. After some shifting through the trash, the plant was carefully placed in a short glass bottle, then put safely in the cooler. Reading the rest of the information his drive provided, Yato decided it would be best to return the plant to his house.

The trip back went by quick. Yato tried to search his own memories, from before his Father modified him to be a Wall-E. He couldn't remember plants, not even in his earliest memories. He remembered the fake leaves kept on the main table. But the plastic look-alikes where dull and rough in comparison to what Yato carried. He rubbed the leaves and had his scanner check again and again, his data coming back assuring him of the object was in fact a living organism. An extinct one at that.

Once Yato placed the plant safely on it's own shelf, he made his way back out the door. Another bright color caught his eye. Yato had just opened the door to his home when the red dot appeared. Nothing flickered into his view to give him any help to the second oddity of the day. It was a big red dot. A light the size of his palm. He slowly picked up his foot, eyes going wide for a moment before he slammed it on the door. His head whipped to the side as the dot darted out of the way just in time. After a pause it took off down the path, stopping a couple meters.

At this, Yato moved much slower. Placing the cooler down, he sneaked down the ramp, keeping his hand in front of him. When he was close, he moved slower, eyes fixated, and reached for it. When he did, the light shook. Circling Yato in a sort of dance, who danced with it in order to keep his gaze focused.

Suddenly, Yato was running. Taking off after the light that rocketed across the land. It's been a while since he's ran, but he wasn't wiped of such an instinctive human ability. It took a second for his tech system to kick into high activity mode. After a few meters, Yato was bounding over trash heaps and vaulting over fences. It helped he knew every inch of this city down to the last newspaper.

When it stopped again he was over what was once the ocean, now solid pollution. Yato let out a puff of satisfaction, its been a while since his lungs and heart had to work so hard. He looked around to see where the dot brought him, only to notice more of them coming down in a line. The red came down the city and the dunes and Yato realized he was surrounded. Good thing his mainframe was still buzzing because Yato turned tail and ran to the nearest, largest pile of trash.

He threw his body behind it, his systems blaring in his skull, pounding against his heart and breaths. The ground began to shake and the wind picked up. Yato dug his hands into the trash heap to hang on as the whole world seemed to shake. He faintly recognized the sounds of a space ship engine, but was too busy hanging on for dear life to get excited.

After a while, it quieted down, not nearly as silent as before but Yato was already starting to forget what that was like. Machines and engines began to hiss as the orbital maneuvering engines whined and slowed down. The atmosphere immediately cooled again, but the air smelled burnt.

Yato peeked around the corner, hand ready on his compactor in case he had to start swinging. A new, rounded tower stood tall, silhouetted against the sunlight. The bottom of the ship hissed open and a white cloud fell out of it like a water fall. Blue light streamed out of it, scanning the surrounding area. Yato crept out of his hiding spot when the light disappeared. He subconsiously fixed his hair, tried to rub any dirt off his face, then patted down his uniform.

Yato slowly made his way closer, stopping again when a large tube came down from a crane. It was placed not two inches off the ground. More mechanic arms came from the ship, one opening the locks along the side, the other typing in a code on the keypads at the top. Yato decided these machines weren't sentient and made his way behind a closer-much smaller-pile.

Whatever the machine typed in had the entire pod glowing a bright blue. The front was a glass case, one that had the shadowed shillohette of a person. At this, Yato nearly leaped out of his skin. His human half was almost thrilled to tears. It had been so, so long since he'd seen anything that even resembled a human. Just when he was starting to think this planet had been long since left behind. On the other hand, his mainframe panicked. The other Wall-Es were all dead, and he wasn't nearly done with the work he was supposed to do. What's worse is that he was sitting doing nothing in the presence of someone who was defiantly above him, instead of doing said job.

Yato's thoughts were silenced as the glass door of the pod slid open and the creature- who he assumed was a human- sat up and slid out. It stood in a white skin-tight suit with little glowing buttons along the hip and light up blue lines that stretched thoughout. Tyed to the tail bone was what looked like a small hand gun, long and futuristic without any sort of handle. The human reached up at the helmet it wore and clicked the buttons. The helmet seemed to disappear into thin air and long brown hair fell out. Yato gasped in awe at this, the hair flowing beautifully as the human looked around at it's surroundings.

The human waved at the pod, allowing it to shut before walking a few steps to the left. One hand on the side of their head- the white parts of the helmet that covered where the ears should be, still visible- and allowed the other side to scan the ground, just as the ship had done. After a second, something on the human buzzed, and it walked a few more paces before scanning again. It continued this process even as the ship began to fold back into itself. Yato ducked as the engines turned on, eyes not leaving the new guest.

The Earth rumbled and heat waves pushed past Yato with great force. But his eyes were able to keep open, even under such conditions, so he braced himself and watched over the human. The ship took off, the charred ground where it once stood the only evidence of it being there. That and the new two-legged organism walking around.

By now, the human had turned so Yato could get a good look at- oh. It was a human. Not just any human. A female. Yato figured he should had guessed, what with the nicely kept long hair she had, but then he reminded himself of the few men that kept their long hair in ponytails. But, her face look soft too. The skin was smooth and unshaven, her cheeks rounded along with her jaw. She had a delicate swan neck, delicate collar bones, and yep. Defiantly female.

Yato finally remembered how to close his mouth and his systems flashed a quick reminder he would need to breathe soon. So he did, watching the girl as she continued scanning. Maybe she was a cyborg like him? His systems hadn't picked up another signal, but it hadn't mentioned the ship either. Maybe they were both too advanced?

The human stopped, and so did Yato. She turned to watch the ship leave the atmosphere, now just a ball of light. She didn't show any emotion. Yato hoped she wasn't sad. As much as he was happy to finally have company, he knew what it felt like to be left behind. Yato took a breath, ready to go introduce himself and tell her it wasn't so bad here. Until she suddenly let out a yell.

Yato fell back behind the pile, freaked, before he realized the cry was one of joy.

"Oh my..." Yato's voice was caught in his throat when the woman's boots opened up two motors on the bottom and she took off in the air. She spun around, letting out a type of feminine laughter similar to the last sound Yato heard from another person. Yato 'Ooo'd and 'aw'ed as the girl flew around, kicking up dust, and dancing on telephone wires like gravity had no hold on her.

Yato worried about her flying off, somewhere he couldn't find or reach. But she stayed within sight, breaking the sound barrier now and again. After her laughter died down, she skidded into a landing right back where she started. Her hair was barely disheveled and her suit didn't have a speck of dirt on it.

As she caught her breath, Yato made his way toward her. He thought about how best to indroduce himself, how best to explain the mess and the lack of superiors, and maybe how best to invite her over for dinner. Once he was a meter away from her back side, he took in a breath through his mask.

"Hello-AH!" Yato threw his body to the side, his back hitting the dirt hard. Past him, the ground ruptured and exploded, dust billowing up. Yato still felt the heat of the blast long his chest, her calm focused face playing on repeat in his head. Yato realized he made a grave error: he hadn't even considered this person could be an enemy.

When the smoke cleared Yato sat in the fetal position with his compactor held out in front. Even the heavy iron and steel squares that blocked his head would be no match for whatever just fired at him from close range.

The girl made a string of noises. Firm and controlled, at normal volume.

Yato peaked around his compactor to see she still had the gun pointed at him. From this close he could see her eyes were brown.

She made the sounds again. Yato realized she was trying to speak to him in a language he- or his systems- didn't understand. There was so much to say, but he addressed the first issue.

"Don't shoot me. I'm not dangerous." Yato mimicked her tone, if not a little more passive.

He watched her eyes flicker to the down slightly to the right and knew she was reading something. She pressed her lips together, looking between him and her info, unsure.

"You-" she took a breath. "You speak the old dialect?"

Yato figured the question was rhetorical, noting that she still pointed the gun at him. He pointed his gaze at the gun then returned it to her with a hard, pleading, expression.

The young woman looked at him just as hard before pointing her gun to the floor. Yato noticed it encased her hand, stopping just above the wrist.

"You are not human." She spoke again while looking off to the right again, her voice choppy and unsure.

Yato shook his head, slowly putting down his compactor but not letting go. Yato may be a Wall-E, but there had been more than a fair share of fights. He swung this thing around day in and day out, his enhanced bone structure able to carry it like a baseball bat. He could also tell that she was new, or at least never pointed that at a sentient being before. Yato was confident he could defend himself.

"No. Are you?" He held his gaze. And his breath. Wanting desperately to know the answer. Her eyes finally left his and widened at something just below his chin.

"You're a Wall-E." she spoke in awe, and continued to look him up and down. "But I thought they were-" she shut her mouth and look at him again when he spoke.

"What? You don't have Wall-Es?" Yato forced a joking smile, but the words came out more nervous than he indended. The young woman let the gun fall to her side.

"No." she informed him, almost sad.

Yato immediately felt bad for upsetting her, even if he didn't know what he did.

"That-That's okay! What about you? Are you human or a hybrid, like me?"

"That's classified." she looked stern again, but a forced practiced stern.

"Well that's rude," Yato huffed.

"Sorry. That classified, Yato."

Yato perked up at the unfamiliar sound of his name. His smile returned when she put her gun away and he scrabbled to his feet. His name sparking the energy he had during her arrival.

"What's your name?" he asked excitedly, stepping close to her.

She stepped back with a funny look, "S-Sorry, but that's classified too."

Yato suddenly remember a joke his father often told.

"Nice to meetcha 'That's Classified Too'! Welcome to Earth!" Yato did a bow and flayed out an arm to gesture to the garbage land that surrounded them.

"There's lots of things here I think you'll like! And I'll be happy to show you!" Yato took walked towards her again, frowning when she backpedaled.

"Th-That's okay! I'm on a mission, so I'll have to pass." Her boots clicked on again. "It was- uh- nice meeting you!" she waved a bit awkwardly and took off again, this time toward the city, out of sight.

Yato stood and stared after her. His heart felt odd in his chest. Like it was telling him to follow her and never let her out of his sight. A high pitched chirp brought his attention away from the sky, to the ground behind him.

"Nora! Did you hear that! She said it was nice to meet me! And those boots! Did you see she could fly? Oh, wasn't she amazing Nora?"

Nora shook her body at the volume he shouted, instead crawling up his legs to his shoulder. She squeaked again.

"If you wanted to go home you should have went on without me. You're just using me as a ride 'cause you're lazy."

Nora hissed at him as Yato put the compactor back in it's holder. The smile still planted on his face. His cheeks were hurting, not being used to the activity, and he knew the future was going to be much more fun.

After Yato brought Nora back home, he tidied the pace up as best he could. Then he washed his hair and clothes with a leaf blower. And finally, soaking both in fancy-looking cologne he found. It was the middle of the night when Yato found her in the city. She had ended up in an old mattress store asleep in her pod, but this time with a blanket.

Quietly sitting in the parking lot outside, his gaze was zoomed in as far as it could go. His night-vision gave him high definition as he scanned the length of her body. He concluded some things. One, she was human, or at least a lot less cyborg-y than he was if she required sleep. Two, her knowledge about this world was basic at best. Other than her shock at his existence, she seemed to have an idea of what things were. It was like she had only seen things in pictures or read about them in books. Three, she was not here for a long time.

Next to this pretty human, the space ship also set aside a small crate. And if this person needed sleep, it was safe to assume she needed substance as well. Something that the crate most likely provided. If that were the case, the amount of food that thing could hold- even dried- was three months tops. Yato had hooked up the city's security system to his TV and his mainframe, it alerted him of any movement. He watched her take a meal out before finding a place to sleep.

Yato saw her sigh and roll over, pink lips parted, her breath fogging the invisible helmet. The Wall-E sighed longingly as she drooled, it's only been a couple hours but he couldn't remember life without her. Yato wouldn't let her leave. He couldn't. There was no way Yato could go back to that loneliness.


	3. Chapter 3

After a week, the pretty human girl had scanned about 20 square miles. Followed- in somewhat secret- every step of the way by Yato. She now found herself in what was once a park, shifting through piles and piles of trash. What ever she was searching for much be important, her search had slowed down here so she could scan every inch. Maybe if she saw how fun it was here, with him, she would give up on whatever she was searching for.

"Now, remember the plan." Yato whispered to the cockroach on his shoulder. Nora squeaked in acknowledgement, her antennas twitching. They hid inside an empty store, on the second floor of the mall. Below, the young woman was scanning the check out area.

Yato and Nora nodded to each other before she leaped off his shoulder and scurried down the escalator. Yato watched as Nora made her way across the large tile floor, and came a couple feet behind the alien. Nora's chirp echoed throughout, signaling the young woman to whip out her gun and fire at the noise.

Yato swallowed a shriek, fingers coming to cover his mouth. He nearly cried in relief when Nora crawled out of the smoking hole in the floor and hissed at the taller girl. The latter blinked at the small insect, slowly putting down her gun. At this, Yato let out a sigh of relief, the plan working.

Nora took a step back to shake herself out and chirping again at the newcomer. The girl's eyes widened at the sight and she put her gun away with a cute gasp.

"A periplaneta americana!" she gently reached out a hand and let Nora inspect it before climbing on. The brown-haired woman then brought the insect closer to her face, holding her palm at eye-level.

"This was one of the few species suspected to still be surviving! But I haven't seen yet so I assumed it wasn't true!" she rubbed a finger along Nora's spine just the way she liked it, causing her to buzz. Yato melted at the sight, then resumed the plan with renewed vigor. He patted behind a collom and took a deep breath, cupping his hands around his filter.

"Nora!" Yato called. More often then not this was met with a blue hyper beam of destruction. This was one of those times.

"Ack! No! Wait- its- wah- its me! Stop!" Yato scrambled behind one column at a time, each one blasted his wake by the trigger-happy girl below.

She stopped shooting at the sound of his cries. "Ugh. Yato!"

"Why hello! Fancy meeting you here!" Yato leaned back against a pile of shopping carts that wobbled before falling on him.

"I told you to stop following me around! I'm on a mission!" her shout carried over his groans of pain. He quickly got up and shook it off, pausing to desperately unhook the wires tangled on his compactor.

Yato hopped over the railing to the first floor. "Don't be like that! Besides, I'm not here for you! I'm here for Nora."

At this she gave him another funny look- one that had increasingly more annoyance in it each time- and put her gun down.

"And what, is a Nora?" she put her fingers to her head. Yato noted with slight hurt that she still didn't put the gun away. He crossed his arms and cocked his hips.

"Not a 'what', a 'who'." Yato pointed down at her feet.

She looked down at the cockroach, then glowered back at the Wall-E, thorughly done with his nonsense. But before she could tell him off again- or better yet, blast him- Yato began quickly tapping his shoulder and made clicking noises. To her surprise, the cockroach perked up, then scuttled over to him and up his leg. Planting herself happily on his shoulder, facing the young woman to chirp.

"This is Nora. Cockroaches weren't perticulally liked a long time ago but they're actually quite smart." Yato said. He booped Nora's face with his fore finger, then froze, and turned to look at the only other person besides him.

"You're not here for her are you?" He sounded reserved, almost scared or hostile.

The girl in white blinked at the tone. After a brief pause, she sighed.

"No. No I'm not."

Yato watched her with a small frown as she leaned back against a bench.

"Why can't you just tell me what it is you're looking for? Maybe I can help you!"

"I told you it's classified!" Her voice rose back to it's annoyed state, "It means it's none of your business!"

"Come on! Who am I going to tell? There's no one here! And I don't have contact with the mother ship! Or any ship for that matter! You're not going to find someone who knows this planet better than me!"

"I already told you, it's not really something you can carry around or keep on a shelf! I can work so much faster by myself instead of you holding up item by item and having me scan each one! "

"Well I wouldn't do that if you told me what it is!"

They both huffed at each other, glaring as Nora looked between them. This common argument ended with her whispering how the information was classified. As awful as it sounded, Yato relished even these interactions. At the very least, his speech was starting to be more 'up to date'.

"Can I at least get your name?" Yato spoke softly, pleading. The young woman squeezed the nozzle of her gun and pressed her lips together.

"Just stop following me around. Leave me alone." She spoke to the floor. Yato watched with slumped shoulders as she stepped quickly out the store, glass doors sliding shut behind her.

Nora hummed against his neck, trying to snap Yato out of it. The silence seemed to stretch on as Yato's systems did a check on what was putting stress on his heart. He held up his finger to nudge Nora away from tickling his neck.

"I think I've been away from work long enough, Nora." Yato said.

The sun was starting to go down, officially making it one month since the space ship brought the brown-haired beauty to Earth. It proved to Yato, at the very least, that people still existed far beyond the Milky Way. There was still a chance for them to return. And when they did, he would be ready and waiting, with a cleaned-up world behind him.

Yato and Nora found themselves self working on the piles near the ocean port two days after his fight with the girl in white. He still watched her on the television, at first doing everything in his power to ignore her, but finding he simply couldn't. He spent yesterday charging, then compressing the shopping carts he jumbled up.

Now most of his squares consisted of old fishing nets and discarded glasses from cruises. His body jumped when he heard the sound of an object flying through the air at break-neck speed. It was a noise that found it's way into his dreams recently. He looked around to see her flying from behind skyscrapers, her eyes and scanner pointing toward the ground.

When she landed on one of the ships, Yato found that he was moving towards her. He didn't want to give up. Maybe he should get her something nice, the people who left to live on Heaven's Sun were said to be very materialistic. Yato didn't realize he was running till he slowed to a jog when she rose up out of the ship. The wind was strong today, and it whipped though her pigtails. Her white suit practically glowed in the sunlight. She was defiantly something not of this world, someone from Heaven.

She flew to the next boat. A large cargo ship made for transporting large hunks of metal or cars. He picked up the pace when her boots caught the attention of the crane magnet. The large disc swayed towards her, she seemed to freeze for a moment before she flew in reverse. The exhaust pipes of her boots hit first, she let out a yelp of alarm.

Yato knew how to turn those things off, but he couldn't fly. She would have to dangle there while he figured out a way on the ship.

"Aarggh! Take this!" Her body twisted and she fired a series of shots at the magnet and flew free. She then turned to fire at the ship. The outside of it cracked open as heat borrowed through it. It couldn't handle the destruction, the ship fell onto the one next to it. Then the next one, and the next one. The boats fell like dominos, each erupting in a ball of fire.

The woman drifted back towards shore, landing softly on the ground between the boats and Yato. She plopped down with her back to him, and pulled her knees to chest. As Yato got closer- seeing the light dance across her face- he found himself feeling the same awe as when she first stepped out of her pod. He then remembered the look she often gives him, and decided to take a slow approach. By the time she noticed him there, and pointed her gun at him, Yato already had the compactor in front of his face.

"It's just me," he said above the roar of the fire. She didn't say anything, but he heard the gun clack on the hard dirt. The Wall-E sat on the ground a little more than three feet away, his compactor on the ground next to him. Yato found himself glancing at her now and again. Her gaze was unfocused, her eyebrows knitted together.

Ceasing his chance, Yato scooched a couple inches closer to her. And again when she didn't look up. The third time he moved closer, he let out a sneeze. Scaring her, her head whipped to face him.

"Gesundheit," she squeaked. Yato yelped at being addressed, the dragged his compactor a little closer. They held each other's wide-eyes before relaxing slightly. Yato kept his eyes on her, even when she turned to look at the fire again. Always on her.

"So, find it yet?" Yato said after some time. She looked at him with tired eyes.

"No," she replied.

"Is it really that important?"

She turned on him with fury he knew wasn't anger, but determination.

"Yes! I can't tell you exactly why- that's classified, you know that- but I would be revered! Someone my family could be proud of, even though it's a job they didn't want for me!"

"I see. Good for you, it's important to do what you want. Even if it's not the same as what your mom or dad want." Yato murmured.

Hiyori rarely shared anything about her life before she landed here on Earth. Whenever she did, she would immediately kick him, or try to shoot him. This time, to Yato's shock, her scanner turned on him again, buzzing when he came up negative. Yato turned to face the fire, not wanting to push his luck.

"So, um," she sounded unsure, "Does that thing you carry on your back, help with your- uh- work?" Her words sounded more confident at the patient, reassuring look Yato tried to convey. He perked up at her question.

"My compactor? Yeah! See, this big square is actually two. The one on the end opens up to be a hallow cube, with one wall missing. This is where the garbage and the second square go." Yato stood and made his way to the closest pile of waste, just enough for once trash cube.

He swung his handle, the empty cube just scraping the ground and scooping up all the trash, with practiced ease. Yato covered the trash with the second iron square and pushed the handle down. It slipped down the cut-out slat on the opposite wall a little farther than normal, but it got the job done. Yato then pulled the handle up, letting the compressed trash roll out.

The woman let out a noise of understanding, even as the trash collapsed sightly. Yato sat back down, this time much closer to her. She didn't move away, instead watching him re-flatten the compactor and fasten it to his back.

"Tada!" Yato pointed at the squished cube with jazz hands. His mouth opened when she actually laughed. How he missed that noise. Yato gave a toothy smile back. After her breath evened out, her brown eyes flickered down to the ground. He long legs stretched out a bit and her fingers twirled together. They looked at the fire together again, the air lighter as it whipped around them.

"Hiyori Iki." she said. Yato turned to look at her with same smile.

"Huh?"

"My name. You-you asked remember? It's Hiyori Iki."

Yato flipped on his knees to face her, eyes wide and shining.

"Oh? Oh! Hiyoriiki! What a nice name!"

"No, no!" She waved her hands in font of her face and Yato immediately backed off.

"Not 'Hiyoriiki' it's Hiyori. Iki is my family name."

Yato copied her position, holding his own hand over his knees. He had heard of 'family names'. They were something old-money humans had. Yato hummed in acknowledgement and thought of his own name. The one that was miss-read on the application his Father filled out. Yato covered up whatever his expression was with another smile. He then remembered that his mouth was always covered by the filtration mask. No wonder she thought he looked 'creepy', as she put it, he hoped one day she could see his smile for real.

"It's still a beautiful name."

"Th-thank you!" Hiyori's face turned into a nice pink color. Yato felt warm, his body heat had increased. It made it a little harder to breathe. Yato straitened up. No it wasn't him, it really was harder to pull oxygen through the mask. Yato looked around, his sensors buzzing.

"What wrong?" She fell away from him when his speaker started to blare an alarm. The word 'Warning' filled his vision as the wind picked up rapidly. A dust storm. Coming across what used to be the ocean, from behind Hiyori. Yato lunged at her with his hand outstretched, only for his forehead to be met with the nozzle of her gun.

"Hiyori!" Yato looked again behind her wide wide eyes. There was no time to make her understand. The natural disator program in his mainframe kicked in, his body moving almost without thought. Yato whipped off the compactor and dug the handle into the ground, holding onto it with both hands. He pressed his forehead to the squares- effectively covering his face- and shut his eyes.

"Yato? What is it- What's going on?" The ground trembled as Hiyori stood up, turning around just in time to see the storm take her. Her feet left the ground and she tumbled backward, Hiyori could barely see her hand in front of her face.

"Yato? Yato!" The wind tore apart her call, but he heard her anyway.

"Hiyori!" Yato looked around, eyes much more suited for this type of weather. The glowing blue lines of her suit flickered a couple meters behind him. Yato stood on got his ground, putting away the compactor, he made his way towards her. She was looking away from him when he called to her again.

"Yato?" Hiyori looked at him through her helmet, feeling his hand wrap around her wrist. It was large and calloused, warm and slightly damp.

"Come on! This way!" Yato tugged her towards his home, his gps pointing the way on a small map to his lower left. He couldn't stay in these conditions long, so he pulled her to go faster. They ran, her confusion and protests drowned out by the wind in his ears.

"Do you have night vision?"

"Wha-?"

"Do you have night vision? Can you see?"

"No! I can't see a thing!" As if to prove the point, Hiyori stumbled on something Yato served around. At her cry of pain and alarm Yato halted and faced her. The glass of her helmet hit his chest hard, they met eyes for a second before he bent down and gathered her in his arms.

Now he was sprinting, every thud of his legs jostling the girl he carried bridal-style. Hiyori eyes were wild and her mouth worked uselessly. She tried to tell the Wall-E of piles and objects appearing out of nowhere, but he leaped and ran around without a second thought.

Yato came to a stop at some looming structure. He put Hiyori down, but kept a tight hold on her arm. The whirling of a mechanism sounded piercing against the wind. She was then pulled forward, her booting hitting metal. Yato closed the door, and the storm abruptly cut out.

"Yato?" she tried again.

"It's okay. We're safe here."

Hiyori blinked for a moment as unnatural light illuminated the space. Christmas lights and other funny bulbs showed that she was in a rectangle cuboid made of metal. The side lined with rotating shelves, covered in things he collected over the years. He had told her about the cooler of treasures he carried, but she hadn't given it much thought.

"Welcome to my home! I'm sorry I don't have a place to sit, or a drink to offer, but there's my bed! So make yourself comfortable!" Yato waved his arms around and gestured to everything. He didn't know if she had heard him, if she did she didn't show it. Her wide eyes scanned the shelfs, she brought a hand to cover her open lips.

Yato stayed silent with a smile as she picked up things off the shelfs, throughly inspected it, then gently put it back. She scanned things once and a while but eventually made her way to the back of the trailer.

"We could be in here a while, so I thought we'd watch a movie! It's my favorite, a love story between a- No wait! Don't shoot !" Yato scrambled to his feet and ran to hit the button on the singing wall fish. The trailer went quiet again as the plastic bass went still. Yato then turned to look at the girl pointing her gun at it.

"It's just a toy. No need to get worked up." Yato tapped the barrel of the gun with his finger. Hiyori glanced at the gun then back at Yato with narrowed eyes. When she let the gun fall to her waist, the man tsked at her.

"Ah-uhn. My house, my rules. That thing goes away. Can't have any holes in the walls." Yato stared with his hands on his hips till she took the hint and re-clipped the gun above her tail-bone. Both their attentions were stolen by the magical noise of the Capybara Movie's musical intro.

"A Capybara Movie? I've never seen this one."

"You know Capybaras?" Yato shouted with glee, "I love Capybaras! This is my all time favorite movie! Aren't they just the cutest thing! There's an amusement park across town but Wall-Es are only suppose to work, so I never got to go. But once I was alone I learned to hack into the coasters! I know which ones are safe so we can go together!" At some point during his speech, Yato started dancing with a silver trash lid on his head. Hiyori let out a chuckle at the sight, his childlike excitement, ignoring the pity in her heart. He sometimes slipped bits and pieces about his life during their conversations. Those pieces did not show a happy picture. Hiyori wished-in these moments- she could take him back with her.

"You know we have a Capybara Land on Heaven's Sun. It's a bit smaller than the old one, but still." Hiyori offered. She had to shield her eyes from the dazzling happiness the Wall-E radiated.

"For real? You do! That's amazing! You have to take me!" Yato pulled her into a hug. Hiyori fought her way out of it.

"Take you? Uh, oh, well I don't know. The ship is really for trained Eve-scouters."

Yato's stomach plummeted. She couldn't take him back with her? She was just here to get something then leave? Was she not just the first one here? Humanity wasn't coming back?At his pained expression, Hiyori quickly backtracked, palms held up to try and pacify him.

"What I mean is, um, I have to get a ship for the two of us. You know? So I can come. Pick. You. Up?" Hiyori's voice trailed off at the end. Yato's face morphed into something unreadable. No goofy smile. No whining or teasing. He wasn't even blinking, his vivid blue eyes stoping her breath.

"Sure, Hiyori. That sounds nice." Yato quirked the corner of his mouth up. Hiyori tried his name again, but it came out as a whisper.

"But hey, nothing we can do now, right? Let's just watch the movie." Yato made his way to the television, showing the capybaras struggling through a famine. Hiyori squeezed her fist above her heart, then made her way to sit cris-cross next to him on the flat mattress. He pulled her up to dance for every song, spinning her around while she clumsilly stepped on his iron-toed boots. When he talked though the entire movie, pausing only to sing along to the songs, Hiyori only smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

After their movie night, hiding from the dust storm, Hiyori woke up on the mattress. She was tucked in neatly and completely reeked of sweat. After being throughly disgusted, she noticed a very old cup of instant noodles, luke warm, and a half full water bottle. Along with a dirty note paper on the covers. Her screen translated the neat handwriting. The note read:

"Good morning Hiyori Iki!

I went out to work for the day and will try to be back before sunset. I know you need to eat so I cooked you some good-old-fashioned Earth food! (Hope you don't mind I got the water from your trunk of yummies and had some). I also brought over your pod thingy, in case you were still sleepy from our time last night ;)

See you for dinner!

-Yato"

Hiyori's face burned at the last sentence, causing her to crumple up the note and shove it in her pocket. She'll force him to compact it later. After trying the noodles and gagging, Hiyori made her way out the open door, seeing that he did in fact bring her pod over. She didn't even want to know how he found it, especially after she thought she hid it, but there it hovered. The Eve just sighed, ordering her boots to take off. If Yato was going to go to work, then so would she.

Miles into the city, Yato found himself at the old dump working the giant compactor. The fridge he found the plant in, now being crushed into a much larger cube, mingled with old cars. As he pushed buttons and pulled levers, the air moved again, this time with the soft engines of flight-boots.

"Yato!" Hiyori screeched. Yato kicked the control pad and let the chair spin him around.

"Yes?"

"Yato, I told you to stop taking stuff out of my food supply! It's not for you!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"You leave dirty finger prints all over the container!"

Yato crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. He had gotten better at faking nonchalance.

"And how do you know those are mine?"

"You're the only other person on this planet!"

"Besides you."

"I wear gloves!"

Hiyori wiggled her covered fingers, still perfectly white. They stared at each other again, one cool and collected, the other heaving though a flushed face. Yato stood up and dusted off his pants.

"Well then, I guess we've reached an impasse." He did a double take at the stance Hiyori shifted into. The 'Eve Battle Stance'. It was a sign that he was going to meet pain, usually curtsy of being kicked or bent like a pretzel.

"Wait. Wait, Hiyori. Let's talk about this. I offered to share my earth food but you said-" Yato yelped as a boot came wizzing by his nose. Yato's self defense training had all been self taught. Or by a little something called experience. He evaded her more dangerous techniques, the ones that had him kissing dirt, before he misstepped.

Normally, his miscalculations would have him bruised for a couple hours. But this time her steel toe met his chin, hard, and he heard a crack. Not the crack of bone, most of his skeleton was some sort of metal, but the crack of an electronic. Yato stumbled back clutching under his chin, feeling static crackle along his finger tips. His speaker was busted.

"Ha! I gotcha! Maybe next time you'll know not to- hey are you okay? Oh my stars, I broke your face!" Hiyori came closer and tried to bring Yato to look her without touching him.

"You didn't 'break my face', I'm still just as handsome." Yato's voice came out breathy, air gurgling in his mouth. She had cracked the dust cap and pulled at some skin that surrounded it. His systems tried to alert him of the problem, but the speaker could only crackle in response.

"I'm sorry. I have to go back." Yato shuffled around Hiyori.

"Wait! Let me take you!" Hiyori followed after the Wall-E. He stopped to give her a questioning look, holding his bottom jaw so no dirt would get in his mouth.

"Huh? What are you doing?" Yato asked. He looked down at his feet, where Hiyori had crouched facing away.

"Just get on my back I'll carry you. It will be much faster." Hiyori looked over her shoulder with hard eyes. Yato supposed there was no room for arguing, he meekly mentioned he was rather heavy, but she brushed him off. As they flew through the air at a slower than normal speed, Yato remembered this was the second time he got to wrap his arms around her.

It ended all too soon once Hiyori made a clumsy landing in front of the semi-trailer. Yato got off with a quick thank you before making his way to the shelves. Hiyori followed after him, mumbling something over his system's alerts. His eyes scanned for the extra parts scavenged over the years. Finally the rows of extra pointer-fingers, wires, motherboards, and of course speakers.

He assured the worrying girl he would be fine, but it was important to seal his mouth and skin from the dirt that laced the air. Hiyori kept closer in fascination, watching him click the speaker out of the circular indent. He took the new one and plugged in the wire first, then clicked it into place.

"See! I keep all of my backup stuff here! Pretty much everything I need, and it all just clicks into place!" Yato showed off, letting the shelves roll through once.

"Yato. What is that." Hiyori's voice cut through the air with the same authority as when she first arrived.

"I told you, it's extra parts. Just got to pop this one out, put in the new one, then pop this one in-"

"No. Not that. That on the shelf above."

Yato looked up at the lone object.

"Oh. That's a plant. You want see it?" He didn't wait for a response, wrapping his fingers carefully around the glass bottle, and plucked it off the shelf. He had made a little area for it, equipped with a light and some water bottles he snatched from the food pod. Hiyori's wide glassy eyes didn't leave it's green leafs. Yato thought her sudden aura was strange, but pressed the bottle to her outstretched hands.

"Wha-hey!" Yato was yanked forward by Hiyori when she ripped the plant from his grasp.

"This is!" Hiyori finally gasped in air. Even before her scanner met the object in question, Yato figured what she meant. He felt time stop, his heart beating itself over and over, wondering where all his blood went.

Proving his suspicions, a new sound made itself known. A happy chime sounded from Hiyori's helmet, signaling the object she was looking for has been found. Yato's mouth worked uselessly. He reached a shaking hand out, for what or why, he didn't know. The trash-collector's hand jerked back when the pretty young woman cheered with joy.

"This is it! This is proof! Oh, oh my stars! I did it! I found it! I'll be the first Eve to bring back- oh geez- I can't, I can't even, I don't even know-" her words jumbled together and her eyes became moist. The plant kept getting jostled back and forth as her hands alternated to touch parts of her helmet. Suddenly, the young woman whipped her head to face him.

"I have to get this back to the ship!" This time Hiyori was the one to come excitedly close to Yato, who took a step back. She turned on her toes, loose hair fluttering behind her, casting shadows across Yato's eyes. Hiyori stepped lively down the ramp, clicking the hidden buttons on her hip to unlock the pod. At the foot end, a large circle with a leaf symbol sat.

"Hiyori, wait." Yato stepped down the ramp after her, face desperate. Paused when the symbol glowed green and the circle opened. It was a smaller pod, a rounded drawer that held the bottle- and all it's contents- suspended in air. Hiyori pushed it in, stilling with her palms against he flat surface. Yato made his way behind her.

"Hiyori?"

The Eve cheered again. When she turned to face Yato, her dark eyes shined like stars, some of them slipping down her cheeks when she blinked. He couldn't think about it too long, because she leaped onto him, wrapping her arms around his neck. This wasn't a fight-move. This was happiness. Happiness through human contact. When did it become so foreign?

"I did it! We did it! Yato! I'll be the first Eve to find and bring back a living native of Earth! This is amazing! I'm so happy! My brother, my mother, and dad! They'll be so shocked, and proud, and, and happy." She leaned back and held the Wall-E's face in her hands. His electric-blue eyes wide and flickering, heat trailing after her fingers, she thanked him from the bottom of her heart.

"I really couldn't have done it without you. Really. And I'm sorry if I was mean to you." Hiyori said.

Yato was pulled in for a second hug. He tried to work his mouth and vocal cords again. Does this make them friends now? Would she come back? Would humanity? Her eyes were erasers, what's on his mind disappears when he looks into them, leaving only her. His sensors notified him she was speaking.

"You got it? The signal won't send to the ship until it knows I'm safely asleep inside and locked. So I have to go in there and you can't touch it! You won't be able to get me out, the trip won't be long so I'll be fine. I'll be sleeping but I won't wake up till someone puts in the code and opens it." Hiyori explained. Like she was talking to a child about a dead goldfish. She was trying to placate him. Something old and buried roared from deep in his chest. It dug it's nails into his shoulders and hissed in his ear. With empty eyes, the Wall-E smiled all the same.

"Sure Hiyori, I got it. Don't worry, the ship will pick you and the plant up, safe and sound."

She seemed to glow just as she did when she first stepped off the ship. But instead of it being because of flashing lights and fancy suits, it was an all natural warmth. The Eve nodded and let her arms fall off him. She practically skipped away, taking her warmth with her. With the pod open and waiting, Hiyori Iki turned and gave him one final 'You'll be just fine' nod, before stepping in.

Yato watched from where he was, the curved glass smoothly sliding into place, locking with a light clunk. The air hissed inside as white clouds filled the container. They cleared quickly, reveling a sound asleep Hiyori. He stared at her for a little while longer before he came to a decision. His own decision, one that was what he wanted to do. The cyborg glanced at Hiyori once more time, his solemn expression reflecting back at him.

Hiyori's ship arrived the very next day around noon. Yato was working not too far from the trailer. He had been staring at a poorly-pressed cube for an hour, numb. Like before, the sky trembled and the sun roared. Even though he had prepped himself, over and over, he practically leaped out of his skin. The fire from the exhaust gleamed off of Yato's blue eyes like the sun did against the blue sky in history books. He dropped the trash cube he was holding and whipped around to face Nora. The cockroach faced him too. Her antennas drooped as she let out a low whine.

"I have to go," Yato announced, "I'm sorry."

Without a second thought, the Wall-E turned and ran. He crossed the Earth with clunky speed, jumping over piles and squares of the leftovers of humans. Left behind him, Nora sat perfectly still, watching her only friend run far away.

The silver exterior was completely in view. Even with it's massive size it fell at an alarming rate. Yato gasped in air as his heart kicked into high gear. The ship reached out a giant claw and secured it around the pod. Yato was grateful he left her on the roof to better see her, but he wasn't running nearly as fast as he needed too.

"Hiyori!" Yato called out and reached out his hand. Why didn't he stay closer? He assumed because it hadn't come in the middle of the night- or this morning- he had more time. He had gotten comfortable and strayed farther away. Now, Hiyori was almost in the ship. Yato felt the burning heat on his face, his feet brought him just past the random semi-trailers. The ship began to whirl as the robotic arms did a final scan of the occupant. Once the system observed she, and the plant, were safely inside, it's massive doors slid shut. The pure white clouds that cooled the mechanics filled the small space

The inside was hot at first but quickly and unnaturally cooled down. Sunlight from a round window level with Hiyori's face illuminated the complicated insides. Specks of colored lights from different buttons and panels blinked and flickered before takeoff. Hiyori's pod was locked into the small chamber, almost embedded in the wall. One of many, Eves of all shapes and sizes were lined up horizontally. But she was placed on the very bottom, the end of the vertical row.

The chamber the Wall-E now found himself in rumbled furoisusly. His hands had to slam on the walls to keep steady as they left the atmosphere, crashing through the smog and garbage that surrounded the planet. The temperature then dropped and Yato's internal heater had kicked in, but he barley noticed as he floated there gently. How long has it been since he'd seen the stars?The sky had been covered for so long. Perhaps in books? His father had said he was named after something with the stars.

Space was beautiful. As the ship passed the local sun- bright and untinted- he charged up faster than any Wall-E ever. It felt like they weren't moving at all, drifting past stars and entire galaxies. As Yato gazed through the glass- the blue and white crystals of Satarn's rings swirled by- he thought about how Hiyori saw this every day. All of mankind knew every star out the window like he knew every empty can. If he had gone with them, he knew he would never get bored.

Time didn't matter in the empty vastness the ship flew through. Yato was glued to the window for what could have been three hours or three years. But the rocket had a destination in mind, and so did he. From somewhere inside, Yato heard a rapid beeping. The mother-ship was in sight.

Heaven's Sun sat anchored just up ahead; at the very edge of the remains of a dead star. It seemed much larger than the ports it took off from on Earth, easily capable of encasing every occupant of Tokyo. But no, he didn't need Hiyori to tell him that this ship only held the elite. Yato swalled thickly, the graceful letters of the ship's name looming into view of the window.

He frantically looked around for a hiding spot. The LED lights of the indoor terminal blinding him, as the ship made it's way into the massive interior side port. Yato felt the ship turn and smaller tug-spaceships pushed the carrier inside. He hid as massive holders emerged from the floor and held the Eve transport ship in place. Someone shut off the gravity and Yato fell from his hiding spot.

His groan blended in with the sirens of the outside room. The transport ship's doors opened and light flooded in. Yato squinted as the row of Eves was unlocked, and slid out the ship with ease. Yato squeaked and scrambled to the door, peaking around the corner. He ordered his eyes to scan for any sign of cyborgs or humans. When there were none, he took a couple steps back, then threw his body out of the ship.

Yato's hands caught the edge of a suspended bridge that stood a couple meters away from the door. His feet dangled over the hard floor that was at least three stories below, if his system's calculations were anything to go by. The Wall-E heaved himself onto the bridge just as the Eve pod holder glided to a stop on the other side.

"Hiyori," Yato gasped. His finger tips touched the glass that separated them. The room focused on cleaning the ship behind him, while Yato worked to unlock her. Suddenly, the massive holder lurched to the side. He clung to Hiyori's pod like a starfish as they whizzed towards the back wall. The back of the carrier connected to a thick white line that stretched from the ceiling to the floor, and then dropped the three meters.

Light-up lines seemed to be the theme of the ship. They weaved around the room in precise and simple patterns. Most of them leading from doors to different parts of the ship. Yato jumped off his ride once it slowed down. The pods followed one of the paths to an empty section of the terminal. It halted under a hovering lamp. Within this massive rectangle, one blue light bulb shone over each sleeping Eve like a spot light. Another mechanic claw came to remove each pod from the holder, leaving them hovering under their lights. The holder was then sent careening down the line, out of sight.

Yato stood awkwardly on the end, right of Hiyori. His brown wearalls stood out against the blacks and whites of the room. He twisted his fingers and glanced from Hiyori to different parts of the room. Behind them, off to the left, a door slid open and a floor line lit up, webbing out to in front of each pod. Yato hid as best his could, deciding to crouch behind the hovering pod that Hiyori slept in. The Wall-E began to panic, frantically looking for a better hiding spot, when three cyborgs stepped down the line.

Something stopped him at the sight of the other cyborgs. They were cleaners. Workers that gave up their humanity for the betterment of all. Or had it stripped from them but Hiyori had described a more advanced, safe, human society. So perhaps it wasn't painful anymore. He also noticed none of them had any sort of oxygen ventilation, so Yato pocketed his.

The leader, the smallest of the three, was a blonde with the appearance of being in his early teens. He carried what looked to be one of those long paint rollers, but the actual rolling part was a strange material. Behind him was a brown-haired girl with a scar over her eye, carrying a bottle of polish. Following them was a stocky boy, with black hair and a vacuum cleaner.

The blonde lead them to the end of the line and started cleaning the first pod. He gazed down at his roller and it began spinning. He then made quick work, dragging it up and down the length of the entire pod. His eyes were unfocused as he moved to the next one, looking it up and down. The cleaner's scanner must have told him something, causing him to skip it and move to the next one. The other cleaners didn't do the same, working one after the other.

Once the blonde finished with Hiyori's, having spent the most amount of time on her, he stopped. Yato stood straight with his arms at his side just like in training. He met the kid's utterly bewildered expression with a blank face. The younger's mouth working uselessly as he openly stared from less than a foot away. This close, Yato could see the kid had amber eyes and a round pale face. They still labeled the workers on their uniform, but no longer sewed on the names. Apparently, this type of cleaner was called a 'Mo'.

"Hey Mo? Where'd that bastard run off too?" The girl further down the line called.

The two other cleaners finished with Hiyori's pod then continued their way down the line. Standing with his back to the pod, Yato huffed as the blonde Mo struggled in his grip. The Mo tried to curse at the Wall-E but the older's sweaty palm was clamped on tight. The kid's shoe scuffed the floor and Yato picked him up more, grunting when he was repeatedly kicked in the shins. Once the coast was clear, Yato dropped the kid like a hot potato. These cleaners must not get training, cause the kid fell flat on his rump.

"Ugh! Blegh! What the- ew- what's on your hand?" The boy trailed off as he looked Yato up and down with eyes glossed over. The Wall-E waited patiently for him to be scanned, the cleaner's system most likely to identify him as-

"Stars! You're disgusting!" Without a thought the roller was switched on and spinning along his torso. Yato barked out a laugh and hopped back a step.

"Stop, that tickles!" Yato snickered. The Mo looked far less amused, taking a step after him, further from the line.

"Hold still, Yato." The roller was on his hip before the brat could even sneer out the Wall-E's name. Yato rolled his eyes and stuck out his shoe, his nose playfully in the air. The Mo's tool was jabbed into his rips and grinded up and down. Yato laughed and danced around the kid, using Hiyori's pod as a hiding spot as the roller angrily scrubbed his foot prints off the shiny black floor.

"Now. Stay right there till the next Mo is on duty. I'll get in trouble if the floor has your tacky boot marks." The kid tapped the floor with his roller. His eyes narrowed suspiciously as Yato looked blankly at the clean floor, then back at him. The Wall-E grinned like he was about to steal Christmas.

"What. Why are you looking at me like that? What ever your thinking." His amber eyes followed the slow, deliberate movement of Yato's hand. Yato let his palm hover in front of his face, both off to the side so the kid can watch his tongue drag from the bottom of his hand up to his finger tips. It was too easy. The Mo's eyes followed with great revulsion when Yato moved his hand to the side. He couldn't see Yato's smile widen, before the hand suddenly got bigger. The man's drool and dirt covered palm met the boy's face with an wet slap.

The Wall-E howled in laughter as the Mo used his roller on high speed to scrub his face raw. Yato's hand had totally covered the kid's face from top to bottom. Said kid let out a string of foreign words, but the context made Yato laughed harder, he stored them away for later. The Wall-E's cheeks twindged from the strain, having not used to the muscles in so long.

Yato felt a pole whack his heels and he was suddenly on the ground. When he turned to glare, the clean-faced Mo feigned a look of innocence. The blonde twirled his roller and tapping the end on the ground with a smug smile. Yato smirked as the kid rubbed his nails against his breast pocket. The Wall-E's blue eyes stayed on the pocket as the kid blew air across his fingers. In retaliation, Yato stood and smeared the dirt from his fall around. The kid practically roared, shoving Yato back behind towards the line to clean.

"I don't see your name on your uniform." Yato said. The pole stopped moving.

"Wow. You must be all sorts of genius." The brat continued cleaning.

"What is it?"

"Does it matter?"

"Why would it?" The Wall-E asked. Yato's eyes widened when the short cyborg gave a nasty look from under his brow. Something in Yato's heart squeezed, just under the stitching of his own name. The kid gave him a malicious, deprived smile.

"It was taken away with my humanity, that's how it works for low level workers. When he gave me these robotic parts he erased my memories, including my name." The Mo spat at the floor. The word 'he' echoed in the very essence of Yato's being. It surely couldn't be. What were the chances? But here Yato stood, looking in a mirror that reflected the past. Something else clawed at his thoughts. His sensors-still on the look out for beating hearts- caught three across the room.

The Mo caught on and immediately looked towards his door. Yato quickly followed, and saw two cyborgs in the same black military uniform. They followed behind a man in a white pancho, looking all around bored. They moved quickly down the line, a woman with long brown hair in second, being followed by a light-haired man with a beard. The floor-line lit up again and connect to where the cleaners were standing.

"Wait no! Not again! mff-!" Despite his best efforts, the Mo's pleas were silenced by a sweaty hand over his mouth. He didn't fight as much, even when Yato picked him up and dashed behind the pile of food crates to their right. The three newcomers approached the first pod. The man in the poncho and beads opened the first pod and examined the unconscious Eve. The woman wrote whatever he said on the clip board while the other uniform man handed back and forth medical supplies.

"If they catch you with me, you'll get in major trouble." The end of Yato's sentence tilted up as a question. After his palm vibrated with the kid's growl, the Mo nodded. Yato's hand slipped off the blonde's face. The smaller cleaner gagged and scrubbed his face with a rag. Peaking over the crates, Yato saw the other cyborgs had two more pods before Hiyori.

"Heaven's stars you are beyond discussing, what the hell is even on you-"

"-Do you want one?" Yato hurriedly interrupted. Speaking in a whisper.

"A new face? Yeah cause I'm gonna burn this one."

"A name."

The boy stilled, his mouth finally clamping shut. The Mo swallowed thickly. He didn't say anything. No snide remark or teenage bite. No nasty snarl or disgusted look. The kid was still while Yato kept frantically looking over their protection, then ducking to look at the kid's face. Hiyori was being inspected now. First her vitals and any report of injury.

"I suppose you want to give me one? I'm not a pet you know. I'm a cyborg." The Mo's voice shook when he emphasized his state of being.

"Another Wall-E once told me how important names are. Especially to cyborgs."

The leader was now much closer. He had long grey hair that matched his poncho and tanned skin. His indigo bug-eyes scanned Hiyori lazily, but his lips quirked up. Already the Wall-E hated him. Yato looked him up and down, zooming in his vision. The bottom edge of his poncho having the word 'Go-4' stitched in black. Luckily, he moved down to let the woman fiddle with the pod. Yato looked closely at the white stitching on hers and the bearded man's uniform. Apparently they were 'Secur-T'.

"You can't name me. Only higher ups and humans can name cyborgs that answer to them. Besides you're not my- we're not family. " Yukine grounded out past clenched teeth.

"We could be." Yato rushed out in response.

The woman Secur-T was checking Hiyori's capsule. The Wall-E subconsiously hugged the child closer. He didn't need to look to know what she was checking for.

"Sir," the woman called for the Go-4, "Sir, this Eve returned positive."

The bearded Secur-T came to take a closer look, and confirmed it. The Go-4 gave a shocked expression before rapidly tapping the keypad on his forearm. Yato and the Mo let out a curse when the terminal blared out sirens, the entire area becoming enveloped in green lighting.

"What's happening?" Yato hissed.

"I don't know!" The boy crouched lower, looking around in awe and confusion.

The Go-4 and Secur-Ts moved further down the line, a transport vehicle following them. From the back of the cart, another robot claw unfolded itself, moving towards Hiyori's closed pod. Despite the Wall-E's pounding heart and itch to latch onto Hiyori's container, the young man looked down at the teen still crouched under his arm.

This Mo was small but definitely a force to be reckoned with. His presence was quiet until you noticed him, in which case he was something to behold. Even if their situations were the same- but Yato was probably just projecting- this cleaner wasn't nearly as dark as Yato was. He was just had a small bite. Just a little frosty.

"Hey, if we don't move soon they're going to see us." The kid said with a half-hearted glare. This description sounded similar to something his father had told him. A type of weather he had found in a book, something his father hadn't seen in years. But he would need a family character. Yato could only think of one.

Well, at the very least, this kid has her spunk.

"I'm adopting you." Yato announced, finally moving off the blonde.

"Wha-What? You can't just-!"

"We're family, and you're my kid now." Yato said with one hand on his hip, the other tossling the kid's blonde hair. The three other cyborgs were mounting the floating vehicle that now had Hiyori's pod latched on it's back.

"I have to go after her but I'll come back and find you." Yato stared intently in the Mo's eyes as he made this promise. He finally stood up from their hiding spot and waited a couple seconds as the vehicle lurched down the white line. Then, Yato took off, turning around just to catch the kid's stunned face.

"Your name is Yukine!" Yato ran backwards with a smile and cupped his hands around his mouth to project.

"And don't you forget it!"


	5. Chapter 5

Yato dashed down the white line, following a long tunnel leading from the terminal. There was more LED lighting ahead, the vehicle carrying his beloved stopping for a moment before veering right. Yato ran after them, only to almost get run over by another hovering vehicle. He threw himself back as his sensors went wild. There were robots big and small, mixing at high speeds with more cyborgs than he's ever met.

Craning his neck over around the corner, Yato saw Hiyori's transporters drive towards the left end of the hall. Yato hissed out her name, looking back and forth for some sort of direction system. There was none so the Wall-E looked down at the lines. It was a six-lane highway, all with the vehicles flying off the ground. It gave him an idea.

His boots took five big steps back, then charged full tilt. Yato dropped to the floor, his ribs and hip sliding along the polished floor. Before he could go further, he latched onto the bottom of an oncoming transport. Even in space, his body was too heavy to lift off the ground, so his back slid across the floor. He could see Hiyori's pod pausing for a spell, waiting to turn left.

Yato grunted at the back-burn and wrapped an arm around the side. The thing rocked as the Wall-E heaved his body on top. Rolling on like he would onto a hammock. Thankfully, there was no one on the vehicle, but that also meant there were no controls. He saw Hiyori's transport turn left as his approached closely behind. Yato panicked when his vehicle began to merge in the opposite direction. He looked to the sky and sighed.

"The things I do for love." Yato let his body fall to the left, latching onto the front and twisting the right side up. The air under the transport hummed at a higher pitch as it was pushed off it's course and latched onto a new floor-line. Around him, other cyborgs honked and hollared at him. Yato sheepishly waved behind him before leaning forward. He willed the transport to move faster, Hiyori and the three other cyborgs in sight. If possible, an even brighter light glowed from the end of the tunnel. Hiyori's was enveloped first, then Yato. He squinted against the unnatural brightness, then opened his eyes.

Massive. The area he found himself in must be the main deck, but, there was just a pool? The ceiling had a cartoon sun and some clouds, providing enough light for the entire area. Even without it, the walls and buildings surrounding the resort were covered with electronic advertisements. They overlapped each other and showed nothing but entertainment and food in a cup.

Yato gasped out in awe. This room alone- if you could call it that- put the city to shame. Even in it's old glory days. His hover pod slowed down and Yato snapped out of his daze. In front of him was another hovering device. This one looking like a chair. Yato's head shot up when he noticed there were in fact human heart beats around him. All around him. In the chair in front of him, and in the multitude chairs that now joined him as he continued onto another highway.

Massive. These people, humans if his sensors weren't mistaken, were much larger than he remembered them being. They rivaled hogs or hippos, their faces taking on a huge pear shape. All of humans wore red onesies. Each person's face was four inches way from a personal holographic screen. Yato peeked at the woman next to him, another woman was on the screen speaking to her. To his shock, the woman next to Yato spoke back. He was amazed by this futuristic phone, until he heard an echo behind him, and he saw the woman on the screen sitting on the other side of him.

Yato rolled his eyes, then shook his head. He needed to focus on following Hiyori. Her transport was just up ahead, waiting in line at what looked like a train station. He couldn't lean with his transport squished between these massive bodies. Yato stood up, flailing his arms to keep balance on his new surf board. He was in the third lane out of four. Only one line separated him from Hiyori.

The Wall-E looked to his right. There was a very large man with slick-back brown hair coming this way on his chair. He would have to time this just right. The man sipped on his meal, eyes lazily on the screen, completely unaware. Yato bunched his muscles, hoping these hover chairs had a strong balance system.

Brown boots landed securely on the top of the chair's back, the entire thing tipping backwards. The brown-haired man dropped his drink as he flailed his chubby arms.

"What the-!" He shouted in a gruff voice.

Yato landed safely on the other side, sighing in relief. The ground beneath him shook, but it couldn't have been him. Similar words from Yukine were shouted at him and Yato turned to see the man on the ground. He was on his stomach with a fierce expression, asking what just hit him. It was clear he didn't see the Wall-E, so Yato started making his way to the station.

"Hey! Someone? Hey! Help!" the grounded man's cries sounded to strong for someone who could only roll over. Yato whined looking towards the ceiling for some sort of holy guidance. He balled his fists up and swung them before groaning out loud. Yato rushed back to the stubbly-pear-faced man-pig.

The Wall-E slowed his movements. Two more Secur-Ts stood beside the human, one trying desperately to help him back into the chair. The other stood, alerting oncoming traffic that the pathways have concaved off their straight path to avoid further accidents. Yato nearly laughed. The Secur-T cyborg trying to help the man back in his chair was a little blading man with round glasses. He sweated and grunted along with the human, practically shaking, trying to avoid being crushed.

"Tsuguha, please come and assist- oh! Thank you, that was fast- huh? Who are?" The male Secur-T blinked his beady eyes as Yato scooped the human from under his arms and lifted him up. The two cyborgs heaved and the big human was back in his chair, pieces of slick back hair falling out of place. They both stared at the Wall-E in confusion while Yato craned his neck to see Hiyori's transport next in line. By now the other Secur-T had ran up.

"Okay, Akiha, sir! The signs have arrived! I'm so sorry for the inconvenience! Thank you for your patience." Her bun bobbed as she ran over in a panic. She, too, blinked I awe behind glasses at the cyborg in dirty brown wearalls. Yato ideally wondered why they needed glasses. Was it possible these Secur-T didn't have eye inserts?

"Who are you? What the hell is a Wall-E?" The sitting man narrowed his brown eyes, mouth set in a bit of a scowl. Yato decided he liked this human. He seemed honest.

"I'm Yato!" The Wall-E stuck out a hand. The man looked at his hand, then Yato, then back at his hand with a raised brow. After some deliberation he nodded.

"Daikoku." his chubby fingers gripped Yato's fully as he shook hands once before letting go and crossing his arms. Out of the corner of his eye, Yato saw the hover-train round the pool deck.

"I appreciate you helping me out. Sometime these new glorified mall cops do things too by the book. I owe you one-hey! Don't run off when I'm praising you!" Daikoku hollered after the Wall-E. Yato didn't even look back but waved over his shoulder.

The train was almost done being loaded, Hiyori's pod sideways between two humans. Yato ran up to the open side, hurtling over the blue safety fence that shot up out of the floor. He stumbled and crashed against the back wall, finally taking a breather. Yato found himself nestled between two chairs that faced over the fence, not that anyone was looking past their screens. Hiyori was to his left, just on the other side of a young human.

The vehicle hovered around the pool, zooming further into the massive space cruise. Above them, and the ads, Yato saw tons of tiny apartments. Below, appeared to be entertainment and food courts. Robots, controlled by people behind screens, played sports both new and old. They passed a school, where children sat in floating desks and hunched over desks equipped with holo-screens.

Yato peaked around the woman next to him. Hiyori was still sound asleep, the two Sectur-Ts sitting with their backs to him. At the very front sat the Go-4, tapping on the screen embedded in his fore arm. The Wall-E had to get over there. First, Yato wriggled his leg around the back of the floating chair. He doubted this curly-pink-haired woman would notice him switch spots with her. Pushing forward, his chest gently pushed the chair. Until the train took a right turn and this heavy weight champion crushed him. The Wall-E held back a cry and pushed the chair with more force, just enough to get back out.

He felt for his speaker, happy that it wasn't cracked again. He was much too far to get replacements. This woman still happily chatted away to the screen, young eyes shining with laugher. She looked friendly enough to approach.

"'S'cuse me?" Yato said, "'S'cuse me?"

He shook her chair this time, but she didn't notice. He just watched as her and the people around her somehow changed the color of their onesies from red to blue. The last thing he need was to alert the other cyborgs. How long had it been since he last spoke to a non-working human? Had he ever?

"Um," Yato waved his fingers through the screen, "Excuse me?"

He pulled back when her screen flickered out a view and she jumped. Yato was about to address her again, a little impatient, when he saw her eyes focus. Her mouth opened slightly and she leaned forward. No one but Yato even acknowledged her sound of awe as they whizzed past dancing colors and lights. She acted like she was the one from Earth. She then seemed to remember something, the bright pink curls bobbing.

Yato blinked with wide eyes when she turned to look at the culprit. He bit his tongue as she looked him up and down. He didn't think he could take another confused disgusted look, followed by fairly obvious questions. But to his surprise, a smile grew across her rosy cheeks.

"Wow! You're kinda cute!" she squealed.

The Wall-E grew warm in the face. Her face showed she was genuine, if not a little playful. Yato decided he liked her.

"My name is Kofuku! Please to meet you!" The woman, Kofuku, introduced herself.

"Hello Kofuku! My name is Yato, but I'm sure you could already tell that." Yato said, giving a mock bow. When he looked up at her with a grin, she mirrored it with just as much mischief.

"Was there something you needed from me, Yatty?"

"Yatty? Oh um, I just need to sneak past you." Yato pointed at Hiyori's pod. Kofuku looked to where he was pointing, but didn't move.

"Oh she's so cute!" Kofuku turned and shouted in excitement. Her chair rocked as she leaned towards him with sparkling eyes. Yato agreed just as enthusiastically.

"Are you two together?" Kofuku practically purred.

"Ah well, no. I mean! Not yet anyway."

"An Eve huh?" Her eyes narrowed with amusement, "That's pretty high class." She leaned in more and Yato put a hand against the back of her chair. Yato let out a small laugh, this woman was the gossip type but she meant no harm. Yato was happy to humor her right back.

"Yeah. She's like, the spoiled rich daughter of a doctor or something. But it was love at first sight. We just had a connection, you know? I guess you could say we're soulmates." Yato decided with his arms crossed. He had his nose up in the air, but when he looked back at her he saw she wasn't smiling.

Kofuku's eyes were wide and her lips slightly parted. Yato feared he offended her in some futuristic way but she quickly covered the expression with a smile. He couldn't see her eyes, but the familiarity of the expression hurt him.

"'Soulmates', huh?" She sat back in her chair, "That sounds really sweet."

Yato blinked and stood a little straighter, understanding drawing his face with hard lines. He licked his lips and pressed them together, rubbing the ends of his fingertips together to try and dry the awkward sweat. He looked off the train to the blur of neon lights. The Wall-E's heart urged him to at least try.

"Yeah. You know, everyone has one." Yato focused his maya colored eyes to hers when she felt them on him. Kofuku's wide eyes looked at him, hopeful and confused. When the silence stretched on, Yato's eyes flickered away then back to her.

"Soulmate." He clarified.

"Do you really mean that?" Kofuku leaned closer, her chair rocking sideways. The Wall-E gave an awkward smile at the stars that danced in her eyes.

"I do," Yato was surprised that every word was true, "I think you have one too, a soulmate. But I think you would have a better chance of finding him if your face wasn't so buried all the time." Kofuku giggled and fell back in her chair, happiness coloring her cheeks. The train slowed into the station. Once the door was down, passengers started leaving the transport. The Gopher began turning the transport off the trains.

"Yeah, you're probably right." Kofuku agreed with a small smile.

"And you know what," Yato stepped off after them, but turned to look at Kofuku over his shoulder, "He would be a fool not to be looking for you too."

Yato followed Hiyori's pod out of the train station and off towards the rear of the ship. The Wall-E's lungs heaved as he signaled his body for long distance running. He tried to stay along the sides and just out of earshot, the LED glare off of Hiyori's pod the only thing he could see. Yato followed her into an empty part of the ship, looking to be a sports complex. Then they slowed down to a completely different environment.

For one thing, this part of the ship had a severe lack of advertisements, and overall color for that matter. The floor went from an off white to a black marble, the walls were lined with windows without balconies. Inside, the Wall-E saw something rare on this ship: people working. Cyborgs, his mind filled in for him. He nearly slowed to a stop as he watched men and woman in business attire, type away and answer phones. Across from them were more offices, filled with long tables of cyborgs and robotic arms, building new machines or fixing others.

In front of Yato, the Go-4 brought Hiyori in front of a large grand door made entirely of glass. The room surrounding it didn't look too big, but a long tube stretched from it seemed to touch the very ceiling.

The Wall-E took in a sharp breath and picked up the pace. Up ahead, the transport had made its way into the glass doors, the Go-4 speaking to someone at the front desk.

"No!" Yato was just reaching the glass doors when Hiyori's pod was brought into an elevator and was sent careening upwards. The Wall-E burst through the entrance and slowed to a stop in the middle of the room. He let out a groan and let his torso fall forward, saved by his hands on his knees. The sound of Yato's heaving was interrupted by a stiff voice.

"Who are you? And what are you doing in the Captain's Lobby?" The man practically barked. Yato looked slightly to the left of the elevator to see a tall desk with two similar looking men behind it. The cyborg that just addressed Yato like he walked in naked, had long black hair that fell past the desk, and wore a white and black uniform. His eyes were also dark, squinting at him due to the twisted, angry expression he was giving the cleaner.

"Was there something you needed help with?" The other man leaned forward and spoke to Yato in a much softer tone. This one had the same hair style and eyes, only his were a much lighter color. His hair was a fair blonde while his skin was much paler, he looked like a copy that ran out of ink.

Yato jogged up to the desk as both cyborgs followed him with their similar eyes. The desk was just high enough to settle under his chin. The Wall-E hooked his fingers on the pristine counter top and finally caught his breath. From this close he could read the cyborgs' types and names. They were both Typ-Es. The soft blonde is named Kiun, while the one that looked at the Wall-E like he just cut him off on the interstate, is named Take. It was odd how some cyborgs had names and not others. He would have to ask Yukine about that later.

"Yeah, hi. I'm a Wall-E from Earth and I was, um, on that transport? And I, uh, fell off." The end of Yato's sentence tilted up in question. Both Typ-Es' eye brows raised to their hairline as they looked down at Yato's most convincing smile.

Take did a spit take, then let out a howl of laughter. Yato's cheeks went pink and his brows pinched together when the man proceeded to laugh himself to the floor. Kiun, on the other hand, continued to stare at Yato, as if in a trance.

"So," Yato cleared his throat and looked to Kiun, "if you could just let me go wherever they went, I'd really appreciate it." Yato glared when Take tried to crawl back on his chair only to make eye contact with the cleaner and fall back down, tears streaming from his eyes. This seemed to snap Kiun out of whatever he was in, and the blonde straightened up.

"I'm sorry, but we can't let you into the Captain's Chamber without proper representation and, or identification." Kiun informed. At this point, Take was back in his chair, superior expression on his face as if he wasn't just rolling on the floor.

"That's right. And I doubt you have either," Take crosses his arms, "only the elite with high qualifications may hold an audience with the captain of Heaven's Sun." The Typ-E stuck his nose in the hair. Yato didn't have much experience with his type, but if he wanted to get up to Hiyori, he would have to play fairly.

"By 'elite' do you mean yourself?" Yato just wanted to clarify. Take took the bait, hook, line and sinker.

"Why of course! Kiun and I are the gatekeepers for the captain! We hold almost the same rank as Bishamon!" Take leaned back in his chair and chuckled, looking up at the ceiling.

"So I'm guessing you are more advanced than us little guys."

"But of course! I'm a Typ-E for the caption! Its necessary I am able to out-preform lower lever workers." Take looked Yato up and down with a smug expression. Next to them, Kiun grew bored and fell asleep. It must be hard being such a high-performance cyborg.

"Anything I can do you can do better?" Yato double checked.

"Of course!" Take proclaimed. Yato sighed in mock despair, leaning dramatically against the counter top.

"You're probably right. You really could beat me in anything, an inferior machine like me can't even hope to win against you." The Wall-E mourned while Take's nose grew bigger. But then Yato straightened up, catching the other man's attention.

"Well, I mean, anything except Rock-Paper-Scissors." Yato leaned against the counter with a polite smile. The Wall-Es eyes flicked back up at the Typ-E to see he had jolted into a sitting position. Yato looked at his nails, trying to snuff out his smile.

"I can defeat you in anything! Even this pointless 'rock-paper-scissors'." Take used air-quotes around the name of the game.

"I don't know," Yato drawled, "I'm pretty good. Back home, you could say I'm the best."

"Ha! The only 'best' here is me!"

"Ah, well, it's pointless anyway."

"Pointless though it may be, I can't allow you to be in the caption's lobby-in my presence- and claim to be better than me at something. Now, miscreant, explain the rules." Take listened intensely to the rules of such an important Earth game. Kiun, being shaken awake to ensure there was no cheating, listened as well.

"That's it? Ha! If this is your best, you cleaners really are low on the totem pole. This is hardly worth my time." Take said.

"Well then, how about we raise the stakes?" Yato quirked a brow. The Typ-E grinned and hopped down from his chair, making his way to the front of the desk.

"What could you possibly offer me?"

"If I win, you let me go to the caption's chamber. If you win, you can escort me to the chamber, and announce how you captured a stowaway singlehandedly." Yato said, hoping that would be enough.

"You're on, Wall-E!" Take agreed, looking excited by such a thrilling thought. They set up their hands, fist in palm, facing each other with hunched backs.

"Is the jingle really necessary?" Take asked with chagrin.

"Yes! You can't play rock-paper-scissors without the rhyme! It's common curtesy and gives you time to think-"

"-Alright, alright, I get it. Let's just get to it!" Take put on airs again. His confident, challenging smirk back in place. The two looked up to Kiun, who nodded with an amused smile. Then, the game commenced.

"What!"

"Ha!"

"No!" Take roared down at his fist, signaling rock. He then gave Yato the most fiery look of rage the Earthling has ever seen.

"I win, Take." Yato shrugged, waggling his fingers in the paper position.

"Kiun!" Take's head whipped to question the verdict. The blonde Typ-E just shrugged and declared Yato the winner. Take let out a righteous cry of fury.

"I'm the winner! Now let me-"

"-Best two out three!" Take interrupted Yato, getting in the ready position. Yato rolled his eyes and did the same. Several games and aggressive singing later, Yato was still victorious.

"Best 5 out of-"

"Enough!" Yato shouted, he pointed straight at Take's face.

"I win and that's that! Now let me through!" Yato demanded.

"I will do no such thing!" Take crosses his arms, "There's no way you could- Kiun!"

"Yes?" Kuin perked up from his spot over the keyboard. His innocent face not distracting them from the sound of the elevator door opening. Yato nodded in thanks and made a break for it. Take howling and waving his fist after him.

"Come now, Take. How about I practice with you?" Kiun said as Yato waved at him from the elevator. Take grumbled and made his way back behind the ridiculously tall desk. Their newfound past time, the last thing Yato saw before the doors shut and he was sent soaring upward.


	6. Chapter 6

When the elevator doors opened, Yato was faced with an odd scene. The first thing he noticed was Hiyori, awake and standing, face visibly upset. Beside her sat a fat older man in a decorated white suit with a thick red book open on his lap. Yato's heart stopped when he focused on who was behind Hiyori.

He stood next to the bug-eyed Go-4. The 2.0 to Yato's prototype, the only other person to survive his father's operation and training. Who was once a human named Kouto Fujisaki, was now an 'Auto' a cyborg meant to co-pilot the best of the space cruises. No cyborg aged, but it still threw Yato that Kouto still looked the same as their time training. The Auto's brown hair matched the dead dirt of their home planet and his eyes the same mahogany red. He now wore a white and black copilot outfit, lacking the caption hat Captain Tenjin wore.

"Yato!" Hiyori exclaimed. Yato pulled his eyes away from the red ones across the room to see his love marching towards him. He threw his arms open to welcome her into them, smile wide.

"Hiyori! I missed you! I followed you here-"

"Where's the plant?" Hiyori demanded at a low volume. Yato's hands dropped at his sides in confusion. He noted how she stopped just out of reach.

"Plant?" Yato cocked his head to the side, "You took it. You put it in your pod-thingy." When Yato gestured to the pod in question, he saw the plant drawer open and empty. His eyes widened in understanding and he looked at Hiyori, who was starting to look ill.

"Well you see, it's not there. And without proof that Earth is capable of sustaining life, we cannot go home." Tenjin stated calmly and shut the book.

"I don't reconize that uniform, but I can tell you are an advanced human. A Wall-E?" Tenjin brought his chair forward and looked Yato up and down with polite curiosity.

"I'm so sorry, Captain Tenjin, he's one of the Earth cleaners. I don't know why- or how- he got here but-" Hiyori frantically tried to explain only to quiet when the captain put his hand up. Yato swallowed nervously as everyone in the room stared at him, the captain much more closely now. He felt like a bug under a microscope. Yato thrusted out a hand, Tenjin's face jolted back in alarm but he overall didn't move.

"Er, yes, I am a Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth class. ID 001P. My name is Yato." Yato said. He froze when Kouto took a couple clipped steps forward with a hand outstretched.

"'ID number 001P'?" Hiyori whispered to herself. That didn't make any sense. Maybe he was trying to say he was the only one left? But what does the 'P' stand for? Must be an Earth thing?

"We don't do handshakes anymore. Don't soil the captain, cleaner." Kouto informed with a voice of honey. His advancing was also stopped by Captain Tenjin putting up a hand. The captain's older eyes never left Yato's hand.

"You have an odd accent, is that the old language? And a 'handshake' huh? I assume this is a form of greeting used on Earth?" Tenjin repeated the word slowly. His face showed he filed the information away once the Wall-E confirmed his hypothesis. Everyone in the room seemed to hold their breath as the Captain of Heaven's Sun reached out and grasped the Wall-E's hand. Yato paused a moment before slowly moving their linked arms up and down twice. Smart as a whip, the old man let go, rubbing his hand together.

"Oh my! What's?" Captain Tenjin gazed at the dusty brown that highlighted the lines of his hands. He rubbed his finger tips together in awe and calculation. Kouto stepped forward again, clearing his throat.

"That's just dirt, sir, it cannot harm you."

"'Dirt'?"

"Yes. Dirt," Kouto turned to hiss at Yato, "Flith." Yato narrowed his eyes back. The other cyborgs sensed the growing tension. Go-4 emerged from the shadows and stood behind the Auto, not even holding a candle to the copilot's threatening aura. Hiyori, to everyones great surprise, stepped next to Yato. She was within arms reach, but Yato didn't look away, and she did the same.

"This is like earth or soil? From the text books? Fascinating." Tenjin finally put his hand away and looked back up at the Wall-E. He gave Yato and Hiyori another once-over and then quirked his lips.

"Perhaps we should have you both cleaned and maybe updated?" Tenjin rose a grey eyebrow in question to Yato who just inched closer to Hiyori.

"I'll have Miss Iki's pod diagnosed for bugs. So this doesn't happen again." Kouto said. Go-4 gave a salute and walked towards the pod. Hiyori looked like she wanted to protest, but didn't, remaining by Yato's side.

"Captain Tenjin, I will take us both to the center. I'm sorry for the mishap." Hiyori said. The top half of her body tipped forward till she practically made a right angle. Yato didn't know what it meant but he copied, bowing to the captain. The Eve then straightened and spun on her heel. She walked, gabbing Yato's elbow on the way, and lead them both to the elevator. Yato regained his balance next to a rigid Hiyori. The elevator doors slid shut, blocking the view of an amused captain and his unreadable copilot.

The elevator dropped smoothly and soundlessly. So quiet in fact, Yato could hear his and Hiyori's breath. She was still rigid and started down at the floor. Her long hair covered her face from view, but her fingers kept rolling in and out of fists.

"So, uh, fancy meeting you her-!" Yato jumped back and hit the closest wall, his arms went up out of habit. His blue eyes were crossed as they focused on the familiar sight of a gun barrel. Hiyori's furious face moved out from behind her gun.

"I don't even want to ask why- or how- you're here. But, Yato. I need you to tell me. Where is the plant? Please." The last of her sentence came out as a plea. Yato's heart went out to her.

"I don't know. I swear. I didn't touch it at all, just like I promised, and I was following you the whole time so I know it didn't just fall out. But last I saw, it was in there." Yato spoke softly and strongly, never looking away from her. He meant every word, there was no way that thing just got lost. The gun was lowered and put away.

"I believe you." Hiyori decided, speaking to the floor. She stepped and let out a sad sigh. Yato felt his shoulders fold in and he looked anywhere but his sad companion.

"Well, uh, we should get cleaned up. I mean the 'water' back home wasn't even anything. And I got dirt so embedded in my circuits, the only way I'm ever gonna get clean is with some major futuristic scrubbing." Yato finally looked back up at the Eve when he heard a huff of laughter. The young man moved away from the wall and faced the door. The air was considerably lighter, as if the fate of Earth was no longer their problem. Hiyori must have felt it too, her head was raised a bit higher than before. Side by side, they watched the elevator doors open to the mini lobby.

Yato was once again faced with three cyborgs. Two looking like they were ready to strangle someone, the other fast asleep in his chair. Take was the first to charge forward, fist in hand with a wide smile.

"I have done it, miscreant! I have mastered the art of rock-paper-scissors!" Take proclaimed, pushing Hiyori to the side. Yato didn't even blink, doing the song and throwing out rock to the Typ-E's scissors. Kuin was jolted awake at the sound of his partner's cry of outrage. The latter was ignored completely as the two men greeted each other in a poliet wave. Hiyori had a face like everyone else had just grown a second head, and gave Yato a look saying he had something to do with it. Yato sidestepped the raging Take to throw a hand up to the third cyborg.

"Hey Yukine!" To Yato's absolute delight, the kid perked up and whipped to face him at the sound of his new name. The Wall-E grinned wider when Yukine held up his pinky finger, moved it in a weird way that had Hiyori gasp, then went back to cleaning dirty boot-prints off the floor with a vengeance.

"We're going to get cleaned. Can you please call a transport?" Hiyori addressed the two Typ-Es.

"Call a transport for that scrub? How about I get a trailer he can sit in-" Take shouted and pointed at Yato as Kuin leaned over the key board and pressed a couple buttons. A rectangle in the wall slid open and a transport slid out along a new floor-line, stopping in front of Hiyori.

"What the? Kuin!" Take whipped around and stomped over to Kuin to give him a piece of his mind. Hiyori took a spot in the front and looked over her shoulder at Yato.

"Get in the back."

"Yes ma'm." Yato hopped on the back, causing it to dip and sway, "Come on, kid!"

Yukine looked up from his roller, wide-eyed and confused. Hiyori questioned and berated Yato as he smiled and patted the spot next to him. Yukine took another look at the floor, the dirt path leading to the elevator, and tucked his roller back on his back.

"Stop smiling. You look like a freak." Yukine said. He got on the transport much more gracefully, sitting as far away from the Wall-E as possible. Both had their legs dangling and tools clanking together. Hiyori drove forward, the glass doors opened and closed on their own. Yato waved goodbye to the two Typ-Es.

They drove back through the empty sports complex, most of the ship shut down in a sort of 'night time'. Yato swung his feet as they flew across the floor, finally taking in the view he was too frantic to notice before. Once they were back on the highway, Hiyori came and sat in the back. She gave both boys a once-over.

"So, um," she started, "How do you two know each other?"

"Oh. I adopted him." Yato said. Hiyori choked while Yukine began shuddering out explanations and excuses.

"'Adopted him'?" Hiyori restated.

"And named him." Yato tacked on.

Hiyori continued staring at Yato while Yukine burned. She then straightened up and cleared her throat. The Eve stuck out a hand to the Mo with a kind look she never gave Yato.

"Well, uh, My name is Hiyori Iki, I'm an Eve ID 080E. Nice to meet you." Hiyori said. Yukine looked unsure at her and her outstretched hand. He took it lightly.

"Yukine," the kid shook once then let go, "I'm, uh, a Mo, ID 091M." There was a beat of silence while Yukine avoided Yato's Cheshire grin. The kid was looking at the ground as they sped by, debating on whether or not he could jump off and not get hit. Hiyori turned to fix Yato with a stern look he found adorable.

"Now, Yato, the plant is missing-"

"I said I don't have it-"

"-I know. And I said I believed you," she blushed when he hummed in fake surprise, "But Yato, it's really important we find that plant. You weren't there when the captain and the video explained the importance." Hiyori leaned in and looked at Yato with wide, imploring eyes. Yato playfully rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah. Rebelion from the doctor family. Fame and regonition. Making Mommy and Daddy proud." Yato said. Hiyori sputtered while Yukine looked back at her with interest.

"Wait. You, a human member of an upper class family, became a worker Eve just to prove your parents wrong? About what?" Yukine asked.

"N-No! I became an Eve because I want too! I wanted to go to Earth and learn to fight. I want to help!" Hiyori spoke with conviction and Yukine didn't respond.

"Oh so you are a human. Just with detachable advancements," Yato spoke, looking her up and down, "I've been wondering about that." But before Hiyori could answer, Yukine explained in a rather cold tone.

"Its a class system. Depending on what job you get you can stay human or at least keep your memories. Upperclass humans are able to pick and choose, but most of the more dirty or dangerous jobs are considered off limits. But of course nothing's really off limits to people with money, so pretty much most of the passengers on this ship," Yukine's eyes narrowed with distain, "None of this applies if you're a minor, your family chooses for you and the lower class jobs automatically require loss of humanity. The family is compensated, while your old life and your memories are wiped clean and your shipped to a different cruise." The two felt their hearts squeeze at Yukine's cold tone, wanting to be angry at people he can't remember and can never find.

Yato caught Hiyori's attention. His sudden furry was hard to ignore and she couldn't understand why this would upset him like this. The Eve bit her lip as Yato put a hand on Yukine's head, rustling it a little when he didn't react. The Wall-E then looked to Hiyori, nodded at her to continue. Hiyori looked at Yukine for a moment longer before starting up again.

"It isn't just about the plant. The plant is proof."

"Proof for what?" Yato asked leaning forward. Hiyori began to look embarrassed, maybe even a bit ashamed, she couldn't look either of them in the eye.

"The plant shows that Earth can sustain organic life." Hiyori said. Yukine looked back up at her, then snuck a glance as Yato's blank face. Hiyori blinked at the beat of silence, then continued.

"Once Heaven's Sun identifies the plant, it will begin 'Operation: Recolonize'. The ship will automatically plot a course to Earth and jump to hyper-space.

"You mean, the humans will come back to Earth if we find the plant?" Yato pressed. Hiyori nodded.

"Yes. Once we find the plant we have to bring it to the captain. And then once the captain's chamber identifies the plant, the center of the deck will open up a pod where the plant needs to go order for the ship to identify the proof." Hiyori said. Yato nodded earnestly. He wanted more than anything for the humans to come back, for Hiyori to stay with him on Earth. With Yukine too, he had grown fond of the young cleaner.

The transport turned down a short tunnel and parked next to a half-circle glass door labeled 'Worker Repair Ward' it's glass blurry for privacy. Hiyori got off and called to Yato when he leapt off. Yukine slid off and awkwardly stood, still not sure if he should be here.

"I'm not filthy like the two of you so I'll wait out here." Yukine said. Yato made a whiney noise that had Hiyori whacking his shoulder.

"Actually, you wait here too Yato. I need to sign us in first and try to explain you." Hiyori walked off towards sliding door, her hazy shadow the only evidence of her there. Yato sighed and stuck his hands in his pockets. Yukine was staring at him, looking him up and down very slow, taking an especially long time on the compactor. He was sure the kid had questions, at any moment he would select one.

"Hey."

"Yes, Yukine?" Yato gave a patient look. The kid still wasn't used to the new name but he recovered quicker.

"So, um, Hiyori said we would be able to go back to Earth if we find the plant." Yukine looked at the floor. The lack of a question confused Yato but he nodded.

"Yep! All the humans get to come back."

"Yeah, but you say 'come back'." Yukine stated.

"Uh, yeah. So?" Yato wrinkled his brows. Where was this going?

"You say 'come back' like you're there or you were there?"

"Yes." Yato said. He became more confused when he visibly saw the kid struggle with communicating his train of thought. Yukine came to the front of Yato to look up at him with balled fists. The Mo didn't look angry, more determined.

"I guess what I'm asking is: Are you from Earth?"

"Yes." The Wall-E confirmed. There was a stretch of silence as Yukine sorted through his shock and excitement with stronger confusion.

"You're from Earth?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" Yukine said, skeptical. Yato rolled his eyes and gestured to all of himself.

"Yes, I'm sure. Ask Hiyori if you don't believe me but that is what the 'E' in 'Wall-E' stands for." Yato tugged his breast pocket forward to show the stitching, signifying his purpose. Yukine looked above the elder's shoulder.

"Is that for Wall-Es too?" Yukine pointed at the metal sticking up next to Yato's head with wide eyes. The kid was interested and gave Yato his full- adorable- attention. Yato confirmed Yukine's question and grabbed the compactor. He explained how it was hooked onto his back and where, that the bones in his spine, shoulders, and ribs were made of metal so it doesn't hurt, and how his brain signals it to hook and un-hook. By the time Hiyori came out, Yukine had already swung around the compactor- put a dent in the floor- and was now trying to re-attach it to Yato's back.

Hiyori slowed to a stop a couple feet away as Yukine held the compactor to Yato's back. Once he felt it was in place, he told Yato to clamp, marveling the heavy metal moving on it's own. Yukine then spun around and pointed to his back and roller, explaining to Yato his spine was only lightly traced with a metal that only the roller was attracted too. He let the Wall-E tug the roller on and off his back, the magnet not strong enough to hurt. The Eve smiled at the small 'family' her friend made. How the kid blushed at Yato's unabashed excitement just like she did. She found herself smiling too.

"Hiyori!" Yato cheered when she cleared her throat. Her cheeks warmed a little but her smile didn't falter.

"Come on. I'm going first, then I'll be with you so you don't freak out." Hiyori informed him. Yato happily nodded, skipping along after he made Yukine promise not to move or leave with strangers.

The door slid open to reveal a long infirmary-looking room. Beds were lined up and separated by the same wall of light the train had. In most of them, cyborgs were either sleeping or being fixed by other cyborgs or full on robots. Yato followed Hiyori to an empty bed with the wall that separated the bed from the walkway gone.

"Here. Just sit here and wait for me to be checked out and my enhancements cleaned." Hiyori said. After a second, Yato stepped up onto the platform and sat on the bed. The blue light shone up to her collarbone when Hiyori clicked the button, the thin but strong rectangle separating the two.

"You're sure you'll be alright? Just sit tight okay?" Hiyori looked unsure. Yato smiled to reassure her when his neighbor piped up.

"Ah, he'll be just fine Miss Eve! Leave him to us we'll take good care of him!" A gruff cyborg said from the bed to Yato's left. He smiled really big, not even phased by the man across the isle, fighting his restraints. Yato smiled at his new neighbor too, excited to meet more cyborgs.

This man wore different shades of brown under a brown poncho. He had light brown hair as well, scruffy and sticking up in all directions, he reminded Yato of his old teddy bear. Hiyori looked awkwardly relieved, she reminded him of his 'orders' then walked off towards the back. Yato following her with his eyes. A whistle from his neighbor, drawing his attention.

"She's a nice-looker. You're lucky having her care for you." he said, sounding good natured. Yato nodded and blushed a bit. She did sound like she cared about him, at least a little bit more.

"Yeah," Yato reached a hand over the wall, "I'm Yato. I'm a Wall-E." The man shot up out of bed and gripped his hand firmly, shaking it up and down wildly. Yato introduced himself to the woman on his right. He also waved back to the man across the isle now being held down by robotic arms.

"Well, I'm not quite sure what the 'E' stands for, but I'm a Wall-H! I work down below with a couple others! We call each other the Emishi." he informed Yato. The Wall-E was thrilled. In front of him was the current version of his class! And there were more! Maybe if they didn't find the plant, he could stay on the ship and work with them. He'd be able to see Hiyori whenever he wanted, and go back to working with other people! There were so many things Yato wanted to say, but the bear-like emishi beat him to it.

"So, what are you doing with an Eve?"

"Oh! We're, uh, friends! But she gets annoyed with me easily. See, I'm not from around here. I don't really know what's what and she's trying to do an important thing." Yato said, opening his soul to the man. The Wall-H's fuzzy brows shot up in shock.

"You don't say! And here I've thought it's just cause you're from a different ship! But then maybe it's better at that."

"Why's that?" Yato cocked his head as his neighbor cranked his neck to look down the hall.

"Well, if the higher ups find out you're not from around here," he pointed, "Miss Eve might get in trouble for bringing you here." Yato followed to where the bearish-man was pointing. Yato looked behind him and down to the foggy glass wall. Hiyori's silhouette was still there- as silm and pretty as ever- she was sitting down with her arm sticking out.

Yato felt all his blood fall to his feet. The doctor working on her flipped on a machine, allowing the mechanical arm twirled to life. The claw gripped Hiyori's hand and tore it clean off. Yato's brain short-circuited.


	7. Chapter 7

Yato hasn't felt panic in a long time. It made him feel like a child, like his Father was still angrily standing over him. Like he was still strapped to the operation table having iron and wires melted into his body. But now, it wasn't him on the bed being taken apart. Yato kicked at the light-wall, shaking when it felt like cement. The Emishi next to him was yelling something, startling Yato's other neighbor awake. From his right, a woman put a hand on his shoulder, to the left the Wall-H gripped his shirt and tried to pull him back.

"What are you doing?"

"Sweetheart, are you alright?" Yato threw them both off and put his hands in his hair and tugged.

"Arg! I don't have time for this!" Yato pointed his finger at the wall shooting the light's base with his laser. The wall flickered but didn't budge, Yato leaned over and tried the control panel. At some point the bear-man had gripped one of his pockets and fumbled his iPod. A happy song from the Capybara Movie blasted from Yato's speaker, making his head spin.

"Hey! This cutie's letting us out!" His female neighbor squealed in joy, gathering the attention of others who've been ignoring the newcomer's panic.

"If we don't get fixed, we don't have to work!" A voice cheered.

"I don't want to get torn apart!" Another agreed.

The panel short-circuited and the wall to his bed glitched out. Yato tumbled out into the hall and scrambled to his feet. He dashed down the hall, happy jingles bouncing off the walls, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

Hiyori still sat without a hand when Yato burst through the glass wall. The human doctors shrieked and one of the nurses dropped the handgun he was holding.

"Yato? What are you doing!" Hiyori shouted over his music. She reached out with her other hand, the other one un-gloved and pistol less. Completely fine. One of the doctors lunged for him and Yato swerved out of reach and scooped the gun off the floor. His whole body was trembling, but stilled when his hands were secured around a weapon.

"Yato, don't! Masaomi, grab it!" Hiyori commanded to a young doctor next to her. Masaomi inched closer to the cyborg with awe, asking a bunch of questions along with the ruckus. The Wall-E was too distracted by the giant whirling mechanism that hung from the ceiling. It looked like a mechanical spider with each of of it's arms equipped with some sharp metal tool.

Yato leaped out of his skin when the doctor wrapped his hand around the gun. The two men wrestled for a second when the gun fired, it's blast going through the Yato-shaped hole in the glass. Everyone's eyes followed the blue ball of fire as it flew down the hall and hit a small black square on the entrance wall.

The control panel glitched and all was quiet for a moment. Then, one by one the blue walls holding the patients fell out of existence. Yato looked back at the doctor who huffed out an unironic laugh, then at Hiyori who face spelled murder. The gun was dropped and Yato put his hands up and backed way slowly.

"N-Now Hiyori. We talked about this. It was an accident." Yato tried to passify the Eve as she stepped off the table and slipped her glove back on. Her eyes narrowed as she tugged it down tight. Masaomi looked back at Yato with the same color eyes. Yato noticed his lab coat had the name 'Iki' stitched on the front pocket.

"You better start running, pal." Masaomi Iki said. But that was unnecessary. At some point, Yato's neighbor had come to the back along with a handful of others.

"Hey buddy! You did it! The walls are down, let's get out!" The Wall-H cheered. Yato wasn't given time to formulate a response before the mob of freed cyborgs swept him off his feet.

"Yato!" Hiyori shouted. Yato shrugged with a sheepish smile as he was carried off. Hiyori's voice was drowned out as the Wall-E was paraded down the hall and out of the medical center. Yato fumbled his iPod to turn off the peppy music while Hiyori ran after him. Yukine, who was dozing off on the transport, leaped to his feet in surprise.

"What the-? You idiot! What did you get yourself into?" Yukine said, stepping out of the way of the mob. Yato couldn't help but laugh at how absurd this was, that is until someone triggered the alarm.

"Grab him!" Yato pointed at the Mo as he was carried by. Yukine tried to escape but Yato's neighbor got to him first, scooping up the tiny teen with ease.

"Yukine! Yato!" Hiyori was close behind as the pack of wild cyborgs made its way down the hall. All of traffic was disrupted as cyborgs workers threw themselves out of the way and off of transports as the escapees charged down the hall.

"Hiyori! Please save me!" Yukine tried to roll out of the crowd's hands. But suddenly, the crowd stopped short and was silent. Yato was suddenly tossed off the pack of cyborgs, in front.

"Oof! Hey what's the big idea, guys?" Yato trailed off when he saw the scared and cautious looks of the escapees. The Wall-E looked up and saw a wall of black and red. Hiyori slowed when she caught up, slightly out of breath. Yukine now stood on his tip-toes, trying to see over the crowd

"Yukine, what's happening?" Hiyori asked. Yukine glanced at her, then continued trying to see over shoulders.

"I don't know, they just stopped and threw Yato towards the front. Maybe they finally got tired of being covered in dust."

"Halt. Everyone here is under arrest for questioning and or containment." An authoritative voice spoke crystal clear. The man wore the same uniform as the rest of the Secur-T. He seemed to have become a cyborg around Yato's age. He had dark clean cut brown hair with green eyes behind glasses. When those eyes met Yato's he quirked a brow, his glasses had streams of light dance across them, giving him whatever information he asked for.

"You're- You're a-" his brows shot up to his hair line as he read the tiny words on the glass one more time.

"What is it? What's the hold up, Kazuma?" Another voice made itself known. Strong, commanding, smooth, and feminine. The Secur-Ts parted to make way for a tall woman wearing the same uniform with a matching trench coat and military beret. Her name was written in a blaring white labeling the blonde woman, Bishamon. She made her way to the very front and stopped with her shined boots itches from Yato's fingers. Her light eyes gazed down at the Wall-E with fierce appalling.

"Kazuma? What am I looking at?" Bishamon asked without looking away from the man on the floor. The bifocaled Secur-T rushed to the woman's side and frantically whispered in her ear, her eyes widening at whatever he said. Behind Yato, the escaped cyborgs also parted to let a pushy Hiyori through followed by Yukine.

"Lieutenant General Bishamon!" Hiyori gasped. Yukine sucked air between his teeth while Yato used one of his learned curse words. Bishamon look at the three, then at the rest of the group.

"You will all be apprehended. Do not resist." Bishamon spoke with authority. Hiyori stepped forward and held up her hands, one still in the gun.

"Please, Lieutenant General, I am an Eve that has returned positive-"

"I am sorry Eve, but I am under strict orders to apprehend you and this," she gestured with a wrinkled nose to Yato, "thing. Come quietly."

"Orders?" Yukine echoed. Yato couldn't agree more. He narrowed his eyes at the towering Secur-T, knowing exactly who's orders she was following. This woman was their enemy. Yato jumped to his feet with an equally fiery expression.

"Oh no you don't!" Yato put a hand on his compactor, pausing only to glance at Yukine in surprise when the kid came to stand next to him with his roller. The woman narrowed her eyes and set her feet shoulder with the part.

"If you don't come quietly, we will make you. All units, ready your borders! Kazuma, send out a warning." Bishamon moved her coat out of the way to reveal a cane sword, getting into a battle stance. The other Secur-Ts let out a collective 'yes ma'am' folded their arms behind their backs. The gold buttons on their red shoulder marks clipped open and a red dot started to glow. Kazuma faced the three of them and touched the side of his glasses. A shutter sound was heard.

"Caution: Rouge Workers," was announced though the speakers by a robotic voice. The very ship seemed to vibrate with the message as it repeated five times. Bishamon and her Secur-Ts started to advance in a line.

"Yukine, hang on!" Hiyori shouted. Yukine could just barley grab her arm as her flight boots activated and she shot forward. Before Yato could even blink, he was flying through the air bridal style, Yukine waving around Hiyori like a cape. Behind them, shouts were heard as some of the cyborgs were captured while others fought through the line of police force.

The trio flew overhead, Hiyori seemed to know which turns to make as more Secur-Ts appeared out of nowhere. Glowing hallow graphic signs were red with caution as they showed the picture Kazuma took of the three of them. Their faces stared back at them every couple feet, surrounding the four-way Hiyori dropped them in. She landed heavily beside them, huffing that she couldn't carry so much weight. Transports stopped as cyborgs gasped and whispered among each other each other, looking between the warning and the group in the center. Hiyori spun around with a distressed look before whipping around to yell at the Wall-E.

"Yato! There was no reason to freak out like that!" She threw her arms open and the boys shrunk back. Not even Yukine tried to correct her, choosing simply to hide behind Yato. Hiyori heaved in quick breaths, but she didn't look tired. No, she looked upset, her eyes were starting to get wet with pink around the sides. The Wall-E stood straighter, face morphing into one more stern. He reached back and grabbed Yukine's wrist then wrapped his fingers around the Eve's hand dragging them behind as he took them down the hall.

"In there!" Yukine took the lead and pulled the two to a door labeled 'Cleaner's Closet'. They stopped only for Yukine to put his hand on a black glass panel. His hand was outlined in green and scanned, then the door opened. The Mo shoved them inside, pushing the button for the door to slid shut behind them. They listened for the organized boots of the Secur-T to run by, followed by the trampling of the escaped cyborgs.

The two cyborgs had their backs against the wall, Yukine sliding down the door with his eyes closed. Yato stood off to the right, his hand was still occupied with a slender white-gloved one. Hiyori panted against him, her forehead resting lightly against his collarbone. When she looked up, she saw Yato's intense eyes, dark with several emotions. Hiyori's lips parted to let out one last puff, the rest of her not moving. This confused Yato, who quirked an eyebrow and squeezed their hands trapped between them.

"Oh! Uh," Hiyori stepped back and Yato let her hand slip away, "Sorry." They didn't turn away from each other, but they couldn't look each other either. Yukine, who opened his eyes and sat up at the sound of the awkward coughing and burning faces, looked between them.

"Can we stop the awkward tension and figure a way out of here? All that first sergeant has to do is ask his glasses to show the security cam." Yukine informed. Hiyori made a noise and began to pace, her hand coming to her chin. Yukine stood up next to Yato, who was glancing around the room, his sensors useless on foreign ground. Thier attention was stolen back by the Eve, who perked up and ran to the window. Her head turned left and right then she spotted something below.

"There." her finger touched the glass. She moved so the two cyborgs to see where she was pointing.

"The individual ships?" Yukine looked back at Hiyori in question.

"How will that help us find the plant?" Yato asked. Hiyori didn't answer for a moment, her head down.

"It won't. I just, have and idea."

"But-"

"-Let's go. We need to hurry." Hiyori didn't wait to hear the Wall-E's protests. She spun on her toes and made her way to the door, back straight, head held high. Yukine followed after her, looked back at Yato for an explanation. The older cleaner didn't have one, instead he pressed his lips in a tight line and followed after them. He put his back to the wall again, Yukine next to him. He nodded to Hiyori on the other side. She nodded back and opened the door.

The hall had an occasional transport, but was otherwise Secur-T free. The young woman stepped out first, no one sparing the Eve a glance, before she gestured for the two to follow. Hiyori lead them to down the hall, to the left, then to a public service elevator. They were quiet once they were inside, Hiyori especially so. Yukine crept forward and touched her arm.

"Hiyori?" He let go quickly when she looked at him, "Are you alright?"

"Hmm?" Hiyori looked behind him at Yato, who gave her a comforting smile, "Uh, yeah." Her eyes fluttered to the floor, then back to the door. The awkward silence was sharply interrupted by the sound of magnetic decelerator slowing down the elevator.

"Wha-What's happening?" Yukine shouted in alarm when the lights flickered. The elevator came to a halt and the lights dimmed. Above the door, a hallow-screen turned on with the picture taken by the Secur-T. The picture glitched out to show the red eyes of the Auto Pilot.

"Please forgive the interruption, passengers. Thanks to our capable Secur-T you have been shown an image of disobedient cyborgs. I regret to inform you these rouge workers are still on the run, but fear not! Our very own Lieutenant General Bishamon is on the case." Kouto threw his arms open with a pleasant, charming smile. He then leaned back on clean table with hands folded together.

"I have a word of caution for our passengers and workers. Among these rebels, there is an alien cyborg, a Wall-E, one of the Earth cleaners. We have reason to believe this cyborg is dangerous and can pose a threat to the safety of everyone on board." The polite smile never left his face as his voice held no note of worry.

"Yato? What?" Hiyori turned to look at Yato, her face as if these words were coming out of his mouth, rather than the intercom. Yato, on the other hand, stared at the screen with a dark expression.

"Unfortunately, there was a problem with the Wall-Es back on Earth. A virus that messed with the connection between what was man and what was machine. This coding error was seen to cause fits of homicidal rage, and as a result most of the Wall-Es shut down each other permanently." A pause. The air in the elevator went still and heavy.

"If this Wall-E is seen, we ask that you report his whereabouts immediately," Kouto leaned in, the reds of his eyes aglow, "This is a matter of great importance concerning our Heaven."

"It's not true," Hiyori took a careful step towards Yato, her outstretched hand and voice shaking, "Tell me that's not true, Yato."

"But please! Don't worry too much! This matter will be resolved without a single issue and we will go on in luxury as normal," The auto pilot leaned back and kicked his feet up on the dash, "That will be all ladies and gentlemen, have a happy, carefree day here on Heaven's Sun!" The screen cut out and the elevator started up again after a couple moments. Yato remained rooted in place but kept his mouth firmly shut.

"Yato?" Yukine asked, "What is he talking about? Fits of rage?" Hiyori couldn't believe it. She didn't want too. She had spent a little over two months with this cyborg tailing her. Looking back, Hiyori had said hurtful things, gave him the cold shoulder without even thinking as to why there weren't any others. Her training had discussed the virus before she went to Earth, but she was told they were all dead and the danger was wiped out. And besides, Yato was nothing but kind and goofy. His smile just as genuine and carefree as Heaven's passengers.

"He's just trying to get Yato captured," Yukine insisted, "I'm sure-"

"It's true." Yato interrupted. Voice clipped and toneless. The two looked at him, faces stuck in disbelief and terror. The elevator doors opened to an empty hall way, Yato brushed past them and stepped out, looking back at them with a blank face.

"Are you coming? You got a plan, right?" Yato asked, tilting his head. Hiyori took a moment to steel herself then nodded and followed him out. Yukine did too, eyes to the floor.

"We should hurry, the security cams might recognize our faces if we don't move fast." Hiyori said, picking up the pace. The boys nodded and took off running after her. The halls empty for the most part, only their footfalls and heaving breaths echoed off the pristine walls. After a moment, Yukine spoke from Yato's left.

"It doesn't matter anyway." He declared almost to himself. Yato looked at the kid with a shocked look.

"It was a long time ago." Hiyori tacked on after a couple breaths. Yato looked ahead at her too, his inhale sputtered and he let out a sharp exhale, but said nothing.

Hiyori turned right down a hall and slowed down. This hall was more grey and black like the dock of the Eve Transport, however the doors were much smaller. Their circular entrances would really only let one or two people in at a time. Hiyori clicked a button next to the first door, causeing it to slide open, then walked in first. Yato followed her, then Yukine who shut the door and flicked on the lights. Most of the back wall was the individual shuttle, a fishbowl looking thing with one window in the front and back. Lining the side walls were what looked to be astronaut gear and tanks. A little right to the center, sat a control pad with glowing buttons big and small. Hiyori walked up to it and started typing.

"So," Yukine held out the 'o' as he nervously jammed his hands in his pockets, "what is the plan?" He then ran over to help Yato pull off the space helmet.

"Yeah, Hiyori," Yato's voice echoed inside, "what's the plan?" The Wall-E sounded much happier, even as the Mo cursed and tried to figure out what button he pressed. Hiyori looked at Yato, her expression difficult to place.

"Just, give me a moment." Hiyori glanced up at the screen as it tried processing whatever she was typing. The space shuttle turned on, it's interior lighting up and the room started whirling. A deep pop echoed as the helmet was yanked off Yato's head thanks to both the cyborgs' efforts. When they walked over, Hiyori opened the shuttle's door.

"Path of destination confirmed: Earth." The dash informed the room. Yato and Yukine stood next to Hiyori and looked up at the screen. A large cartoonish picture of a green and blue Earth showed next to some stats and travel guides.

"Earth?" Yukine seemed to perk up, "We're going to Earth?" He sounded almost excited. Yato perked up a bit too. He wasn't in a rush to get back home, but it would surely be more fun having these too around.

"That's a great idea! We could find another plant to replace the lost one! Oh Yukine, you're gonna love it there! I'll show you around, introduce you to Nora." Yato threw his arm around the kid and walked to the tiny spaceship. Yukine stepped in first, pretending he wasn't carefully listening to the Wall-E's Earth ramblings. Once Yato ensured Yukine was safely buckled in, he turned to do the same to Hiyori. His talking trailed off when he noticed Hiyori stayed rooted in place with a pained expression.

"Hiyori?" Yato tried, tilting his head. Yukine leaned forward in his seat to try to catch her expression.

"What's wrong? You're coming right?" Yukine asked. The Eve took a deep breath and looked Yato squarely in the eye. Her voice, holding the same superior authority it did when she kept everything classified.

"You're going to Earth. I'm staying here to find the plant."


	8. Chapter 8

Yukine unbuckled his seat belt and stood up in the middle of the ship. He started at Hiyori from next to Yato, who looked like he was just slapped across the face. Hiyori was going to ship them off? Back to Earth while she hunted for a missing bottle with crummy dirt in it?

"So, what? You're just gonna wonder around the ship by yourself? With all the Secur-T looking for you?" Yukine took a step off the ship, anger threading his words. Hiyori looked a bit taken back, but remained firm.

"I'll be fine. But Yato has been labeled a real threat to public safety! He can't stay here! And I can't go with you. I have an objective here. A mission for the good of all the passengers. I swore an oath!"

"You said you didn't believe the stuff that jerk said!"

"I don't!" Hiyori shouted. Yukine narrowed his eyes at her, but backed down a bit. Hiyori took a deep breath.

"But for now, everyone on the ship does, including all of the Secur-T. I need to focus on finding out what happened to the plant," she said. Her last words sounded like a plea, a hopeless plea.

"You think someone took it." Yato spoke from the transit. His words weren't a question, but rather, an observation. Yukine looked back at Hiyori, who didn't say anything. Her lip-biting confirming Yato hit the nail on the head. After a moment, Yato walked off the ship, his boots clicking against the hard floor. The Eve looked back at him, pinning him with a serious expression.

"Yato, you know how important this is to me."

"I know. That's why we're going to help you." Yato stated. Yukine nodded in resolve, coming to stand closer to the Wall-E. Desperate frustration bubbled up in Hiyori.

"I can do this, but it's become dangerous for you. I-I can't protect you and find the plant, I can't-"

"-I don't need protecting." Yato's voice was strong with certainty. He spoke with such conviction that the room fell silent, no argument possible.

"You'll need our help," Yukine piped up, "please, we're here for you. We're not going to leave you to do this alone." Hiyori looked up, glancing between them with wet eyes. She settled on Yato, who smiled as he always did. Her chest felt lighter and took a breath to say something. Behind her, the keypad made a couple bleeping noises, and the door unlocked.

Quickly, Hiyori rushed to click the lights off while Yukine shut down the shuttle. They both then shoved Yato behind the rack of space suits. Yukine ducked behind some boxes. Hiyori huddled behind the white oxygen tanks. The door opened and the LED lighting of the hallway streamed through, casting a shadow over the large figure. The trio held their breath, the face of the co-pilot coming to mind. But once the lights switched on, they were shocked to see the Go-4 standing there. The group stayed hidden as his bulge-y eyes suspiciously scanned the room. When he didn't find anything, he made his way to the control pad, one hand coming out from under his poncho to mess with the controls.

Yato made eye contact with Hiyori and Yukine, the latter closest to the door. On cue, Yukine looked towards the door, then turned to his friends with a desperate, pleading eyes. Hiyori shook her head, hold her palm to him, telling him to stay still. She did the same to Yato who became distracted by the whirling of the engines starting back up again.

The Go-4 made his way to the open door of the ship, stopping just where Yato once stood. Bending over, his other hand emerged from under his poncho, holding a small brown object. Hiyori's opened wide like saucers while Yato's narrowed sharply. The Go-4 exited the ship, the plant in the glass bottle, sitting perfectly in the center. Hiyori glared at the cyborg as he made his way back to the control panel and shut the shuttle doors.

"Self destruct sequence: activated." The feminine robotic voice announced to the room. Hiyori sucked in a breath, it took everything not to jump out and reveal their presence. Another sound came from the Go-4 who glanced at the screen on his forearm, the face of the Auto could just be made out.

"Kugaha, is the plant in position?" Kouto asked.

"Yes sir," Kugaha hit a large yellow button, "I just shipped it off." The ship doors slammed shut and the individual ship was fired from Heaven's Sun like a cannon ball. The walls slammed shut behind it, quickly vacuuming shut.

"Good. Come back to my quarters for your next instructions, that Wall-E cannot continue to roam my ship any longer." The Auto cut the feed and Kugaha made his way out, turning the lights off as he went. Once the doors slid shut and the room was silent, Hiyori and Yukine jumped up.

"The plant!" The screamed in unison. Hiyori ran to the control pad, trying to bring it back or stop the destruction sequence.

"Uh, Hiyori?" Yukine chocked out from behind her. She did a double take over her shoulder at his horrified expression. The Eve followed his eyes to the screen above her to see the video feed from inside the shuttle.

"Yato!" She shrieked. The Wall-E was sprawled out on his back, neck bent up against the door. In one hand the glass bottle, the other rubbing his head. At her call, he sat up and blinked rapidly.

Yato scrambled to his feet and looked out the back window to see the ship getting smaller and smaller in the distance. He let out a curse and made his way the transport's control panel, this one seeming much more complicated than necessary. In front of him, a screen turned on and showed the equally panicked expressions of Hiyori and Yukine. Yato hit a small button with a microphone on it.

"Hello! Hello? Can you hear me?" Yato shouted

"Yes, we can hear you! What were you thinking, you idiot?" Yukine leaned in close to the camera and shouted back. Hiyori nudged him aside.

"Yato, listen to me- stop hitting buttons that's not going to help! Yato, behind you is the emergency exit." Hiyori spoke calmly but her voice still shook. Yato doubted her training covered Wall-Es flying in a bomb with a inflatable boat on top and a broken parachute flapping behind him.

"I don't have a helmet! My filter only works if there's oxygen!"

"Under the control panel is a helmet just like Hiyori's." Yukine cut in. He continued giving Yato instructions on how to get it and put it on while Hiyori tried hitting more buttons.

"Self-Destruction set for one minute." Both the ship and the launch room echoed at the same time. Yato's heart soared to new heights, he threw himself against the exit and tried pulling on the curvy red bars.

"Uh, uh, I-I, how do you open this thing!" Yato's eyes darted frantically over the foreign writing, his sensors on overdrive from the stress and lack of knowledge. One thing was familiar, fancy looking boots that matched his helmet.

From the ship, Hiyori clicked a button on her helmet and ran to a garbage shoot. The inside opened up, the pull of space vacuuming out the air.

"Wha-Hiyori! What are you doing?" Yukine shouted in alarm as Hiyori put her hand on the side button.

"I'm going after him. You tell him how to get out."

"But-!" It was too late. The trash door was shut and the vacuum tube ripped Hiyori out of the ship and into the blackness of space. Hiyori flipped her boots on the highest setting, she rocketed faster than her suit could adjust. The frigid atmosphere hit her nervous system causing her teeth to grind.

"Faster Hiyori! You got ten seconds!" Yukine's frantic voice sounded from her helmet. Hiyori couldn't even formulate a response, her mind only on one track. Go faster. Please go faster. Yato was in there and he needed to get out. She needed to get him out. Yato needed to be out here with her.

The indivdual spaceship was starting to look less like a star and more like a moon. The red hazard lights were turned on making it look like a giant baseball. The insides were red too, illuminating the Wall-E swinging his compactor into the thick glass window. Hiyori zoomed closer as the count down started from three.

The pod exploded. Like a dying star, light stretched soundlessly from a ball of fire. Hiyori scrambled to a stop, floating alone in space. Her brown eyes reflected the glare from her helmet, darting over every inch of the scene.

"No." The Eve whispered like a breath. The pieces of the ship floated out in all directions, not one of them the body of a cyborg. Hiyori numbly tapped her helmet and asked Yukine if he had anything different. She didn't receive an answer. The blonde teenager was balled up on the floor behind the control pad, hand trying to contain his hyperventilating, eyes screwed shut.

"No, Yato. No, no, please." Hiyori said a bit louder. She kicked her boots back in high gear, rocketing towards the fire her sensors warned her to avoid. A couple tears leaked from her eyes. She should have kept a better eye on him. Yato was clever, but he followed her out of his element. He was just trying to help her fluff her arrogance so humans could go back to a planet that had no hope of sustaining them! She tried to protect him. To warn him that she wasn't strong enough. Hiyori chocked back a dry sob.

"Yato," Hiyori morned.

"Hiyori!" Yato's voice sounded directly in her head. She stopped, heat of the blast just warming her body. The Eve looked around for the source of the call, trying out his name again. Her helmet crackled again.

"Hiyori! Down here! Or is it maybe up?" Hiyori looked towards her feet to see Yato floating some meters away. His new white spacesuit was stark against the black background and his eyes shown just like the stars that surrounded him. He was floating upside down- from Hiyori's point of view- and had his legs out towards her.

"Yato!" Hiyori cried in joy, flying towards him with a bright smile.

"Hiyori!" Yato laughed, her excitement contagious. He held his hands out to her, then fired on his own boots, sending him further away. Yato's surprised face was priceless. Hiyori laughed and flew past the former ship after him. Yato bent his knees and tried the boots again, this time sending his body forward. Hiyori's face morphed into one of playful fear, she held her arms out and leaned back.

"No, no, no, Yato! Wait!" Hiyori let out a puff of air when Yato crashed into her chest, laughing. They were sent spinning like a wheel, cheering as they clung to each other, helmets clanking together. The spinning slowed, their space shoes off leaving only their laughter and gasps of breath.

Once they calmed down, Hiyori pulled back to look him, smile so wide her cheeks hurt. Yato looked the same, when her hands came to hold the sides of his helmet, he returned the action. Yato's thumb moved against the glass, subconsciously trying to wipe the water filling her eyes.

"You're okay." The Eve's voice was sweet and she blinked away the would-be tears. Yato's smile was still wide and it crinkled his bright, bright eyes. He nodded and held her gaze, that same feeling from their first meeting bubbling back up. It felt the same as it did now, floating in warm nothing, ignoring everything that surrounded him except her.

"Yeah. I'm okay," Yato said like a secret just for her.

Hiyori felt it too. She never felt this before- maybe a brief moment during their movie night on Earth- but not this deep. It was real, she felt heavy and light at the same time, warmth spreading across her cheeks. Her arms moved to wrap around his neck and her smile softened. Yato followed her lead, arms just barely wrapped around her waist, resting on top of the gun. Their hooded eyes dropped close as they leaned in and pressed the glass of their helmets together. Contentment evening out their breaths.

"Yato! Are you okay?" Yukine sounded from both their helmets. Hiyori jumped back from Yato, who tried to do the same but ending up spinning around. They laughed and Hiyori clicked the microphone button over her ear.

"Yes Yukine, Yato is just fine!" Hiyori reassured him. Yukine sighed in relief over the speakers.

"Thank the stars! I'm so sorry, I didn't want to look or-or to hear but I saw you hug him and I thought-"

"Daw," Yato cooed from his own helmet, copying Hiyori's method, "You do care!" Hiyori giggled and listens to Yukine's responding tangent. She agreed with his point on Yato being an idiot and sneaking in a bomb.

"Oh come on! I'm still in one piece! You did a great job with the instructions!" Yato grinned from his now upside-down position. Yukine practically steamed on the other line, pride ruffling his hardy agreement. Yato suddenly jolted, catching Hiyori's attention.

"Speaking of." Yato flew back towards the still-exploding wreckage and plucked his compactor out of the stars and swung it towards Hiyori. The cube opened up and allowed a plant in a bottle to roll out.

"Yato!" Hiyori gasped, bringing her hands to her mouth.

"Ta-da!" Yato presented with wide arms and an even wider smile.

"The plant!" Yukine cheered. Yato folded his tool back and put it away. Hiyori reaches her hands out with wide eyes and grasped the frail object carefully.

"Yep!" Yato crosses his arms, proud. Hiyori squealed again and flew into Yato's arms, which were ready and waiting. All three of them let out breathy laughs and the Eve blinked back tears.

"Quick, bring it here!" Yukine said.

"What? Why?" Yato asked, separating again from Hiyori.

"Cause there's no air in space, idiot!" Yukine chided. The two outside the ship jumped at the realization. After some failed attempts, and a lot of giggling from Hiyori, the two flew back towards the ship.

"I didn't know you knew stuff about plants, Yukine." Yato said, looking towards the speaker. He sounded impressed.

"Well, uh, yeah. I, uh," Yukine stuttered in the speaker, "have a friend in the agriculture department." Yato and Hiyori gave each other a look like someone just told them cats were lethal to elephants.

"A friend! My kiddo has a friend? That's wonderful news! You should invite them over for a sleepover! Did you hear that Hiyori? My prickly peach has a-"

"Shut up idiot! I've been friends with him longer than I've been your kid, so!" Yukine hissed from the transport room. The two reached Heaven's side and the flat door where the individual ship once was. Hiyori put the plant back in the shoot she came from and told Yukine to reverse the pull. When she went to step inside too, Yato held her back.

"We'll catch up with you later, kiddo! No use getting your friend in trouble helping three fugitives." Yato said floating away from the ship, winking at Hiyori who's blush returned full force. Yukine pathetically tried to deny he was a fugitive, then demanded they meet him in the cleaning closet in an hour.

"We will! I'll make sure, I promise." Hiyori said and drifted away from the ship as well.

"Okay. Be careful." Yukine clicked off the control panel. Hiyori turned around to Yato, only to see nothing but empty space. Movement above her to the right caught her eye. She looked up to see Yato twirling across the ship like a ballerina. He stopped when he felt her looking at him, smiling.

"Come on, Hiyori!" Yato pushed off the ship and flew like Superman. The Eve laughed and gently levitated towards him.

"I see you got the hang of those boots." She remarked. Yato was now on his side, like he was about to be drawn as a French girl.

"Yeah, I hooked them up to my computer and tried to update. It was a bit complicated, and my system's a bit out dated, but it's still ones and zeros in the end. I mostly got the settings and commands." Yato scratched the back of his helmet as he rambled. Hiyori was, nonetheless, impressed.

"You hacked a system more advanced and converted it to match yours?"

"Uh, kinda?" Yato made a face like it was hard to explain.

"I couldn't do most of it, I've only been at it for a couple minutes now, but that basically the gist," he puffed out his chest, "but lucky for you I'm a master hacker!" Yato reached up to rub his finger under his nose only to bonk it against the clear glass. Hiyori laughed at his antics, Yato laughing along with her.

"I didn't know you knew programming, Yato?" Hiyori said.

"It was one of the things you had to learn in cyborg academy." Yato explained. He then faced the front of the ship and tucked his legs in, looking to the side at Hiyori.

"In fact," Yato smirked at her, "I bet I can kick these babies up a notch faster than yours." He took off towards the front of the ship in a blur of white. Hiyori cranked up her own boots and clicked on her audio.

"Oh you're on!"


	9. Chapter 9

The Agricultural Division of Heaven's Sun was a quite, peaceful place surrounded by thick tinted-glass windows. Inside, the plants were all food or food purposed and constantly looked after in controlled environments. Because of this, there weren't any humans around. No humans means no security.

Yukine spent some time here, whenever he was able to pick up shifts to clean the floors. They couldn't take breaks, cyborgs didn't need them. But Yukine would clean and the gardeners pretty much have free range, so he was able to spend time with a cyborg with his age mentality. The boy became a cyborg by choice when he was one year older than Yukine. The two had quickly formed a friendship right after Yukine had changed, this garden was Yukine's first assignment. The agriculture cyborg had been there for Yukine and helped him though the transformation. And the pain. The Mo just hoped their friendship would be enough for him to go against the higher-ups.

"Suzuha!" Yukine hissed from behind a bush. He cradled the Earth plant against his chest, it soft light green color noticeably different than the shelves of GMO. His friend was wearing overalls and a white t-shirt, his class stitched across the front pocket. His dark brown hair matched the soil in the short bottle and the bright green matched the surrounding leaves. Those eyes shot up from the hose in his gloved hand and looked around.

"Mo?" Suzuha questioned the open air. Yukine let out a 'psst' and waved his hand. The gardener looked towards his friend with a confused look and let out a puff of laughter. After glancing around, Suzuha came over and ducked next to Yukine.

"What are you doing?" Suzuha smiled. The Mo didn't look amused, causing Suzuha's mirth to droop.

"What do you know about Earth plants?" Yukine asked in a whisper.

"Like the original organic plants?" Suzuha whispered, "I have the basic information needed to care for all plants. Old notes on needs, biology, and illnesses. Why do you ask?" Suzuha tilted his head. Yukine looked nervously side to side, and over his shoulder. Then, he showed the plant. Suzuha blinked at the object, then looked back up at his friend. Clearly not understanding the significance.

"It's a plant!" Yukine stressed, shaking the bottle at the gardener.

"Yeah. You're surrounded by them. What did you steal it or something?"

"No! It's an Earth plant!" Yukine shook it again. Suzuha looked even more confused. Until his eyes grew like saucers.

"Wait a minute. Is that?" Suzuha gripped the neck of the bottle and tilted it towards him and peered inside. Yukine waited as his friend's eyes glowed with information.

"It's soil," Suzuha gasped, "Like, real soil." Yukine let Suzuha numbly take the bottle with the wisp of green vine and leafs. Suzuha continued analyzing while Yukine gave him the bare minimum on information.

"So I knew, for what you told me, that plants need water and food? But Earth doesn't have that? So-"

"-This plant needs a major watering!" Suzuha cried out. Yukine leaped forward and clasped his hand over Suzuha's mouth. Suzuha didn't even blink, reaching in his front pocket to pull out a hose and let a small shower wash over it.

"I need you to help it? It's turning brown and I think it needs new, uh, dirt?"

"Of course! This poor thing needs a major check-up!" Suzuha stood up and dashed towards the infirmary. Yukine scrambled up after him, calling his name and smiling inconspicuously at the other workers. When he caught up, Yukine put his back to his friend and spoke over his shoulder.

"And please keep this between us, the Earth plant is kind of classified." Yukine whispered the last word. Suzuha beamed over his shoulder.

"Loud and clear! I'll work fast!" Suzuha chirped. Yukine rolled his eyes and focused on washing the closest floor space. After a couple minutes of the two working in silence, Yukine's roller stopped and he looked over his shoulder.

"Hey, Suzuha?"

"Yeah, dude?"

"Lueitentent General Bishamon gave you your name right?" The Mo looked back at the floor, squeezing the roller's handle.

"Yeah! Can you believe it? Naming me just cause I do the flowers for her and the Secur-T's rooms. She's so kind," Suzuha said with a soft smile, "Us lower class workers get our minds erased to be make room for our hard-drives. Our humanity- our mortality- is taken and replaced with our new purpose." he spoke quietly but it held deep emotion.

Yukine couldn't even imagine the emotions he's felt for the past few decades, he couldn't even imagine being a cyborg for that long. For some reason, Yato flashed across Yukine's mind.

Above, the thick tinted glass showed the stars and galaxies. Completely unnoticed, two objects went shooting by, paths spinning around each other. From their dance, Hiyori noticed Yukine hand off the plant to Suzuha. Yato then flew by her, laughing harder than he ever had in his life.

"You're going to have to stop gazing though the window if you want to win our re-match, Hiyori!" Yato cackled. Hiyori picked up speed again, over the whole racing thing but happy to watch Yato's childish excitement. The two were nearing close to the time limit, Hiyori said as much, but Yato begged for one more quick lap around the ship. She relented, and they laughed and weaved and flipped around the masts, and made their way to the front, passing by the side. From the window a pink haired girl screamed, pointing happily at the two dancing outside the ship.

"Look! Everyone! Do you see that? Aren't they cute?" She shrieked, turning to the chair-way behind her. None of the other people looked up from their screens. Their expressions showing zero sign of having heard her. When she looked back out with shining eyes, Yato held Hiyori's hand in a sideways waltz. Kofuku gushed loudly again, throwing herself back in her chair causing it to go careening backwards. Her chair crashed into the corner of someone else's seat, spinning it out of control.

"No, no, no, wait! Not again!" The chair back hit the window, jolting the occupant harshly. Daikoku let out a string of curses, looking to see his projector was totaled. When he turned to yell at the idiot who didn't stay on the line, his words got caught in his throat. Kofuku looked ashamed, giving the handsome man her best puppy-dog eyes.

"I'm so sorry! I'm really really clumsy. I just got so excited! And well." Kofuku sniffed and blinked away tears. Daikoku coughed in his hand, getting himself together. It was hard when she jutted out her pink bottom lip.

"That's quite alright, little lady. I should have been watching where I was going." Daikoku slicked his hair back, making sure it was smooth. Kofuku giggled waved off his apology, blinking a bit faster and reaching to twirl one of her curls.

"My name is Kofuku!" She cheerfully changed the subject, leaning forward a bit. A hand was stuck out to her.

"Daikoku." He introduced himself. When they shook hands, he took note of how much smaller she was than him.

"So," Daikoku coughed, "What, uh, made you so happy?" He flinched back when she let out a high-pitched noise. The young woman quickly made it to the window, practically bouncing in her seat. She then turned and looked back at him with the most joyful expression the man had ever seen on anyone.

"Look! It's my friend!" Kofuku had her forefinger pressed against the glass, followed by her forehead. Behind the window, was empty. A brown eye-brow quirked but Daikoku still came towards the window and the crazy lady. She was looking down with a wide smile. Diakoku blinked at her, then leaned forward.

Two figures were down below, the taller holding up the other's hand. The smaller, a pretty female Eve, was giggling and trying to copy the steps of the taller man. That taller man, now that Daikoku was looking, was strikingly familiar.

"It's Yato!" They said in unison. The Wall-E wore a slightly baggy space suit, but the eyes that reflected against the glass were unmistakable. Daikoku choked at their revelation. This poor cute girl having the misfortune of meeting that rude cyborg. She was trying to bang on the glass at them, her small pudgy hands only making a light slapping noise.

When the two continued their weightless line dancing, Daikoku leaned forward and pounded on the glass. The Eve was the first to notice, giving the two a questioning look. After all, humans don't really leave the lines to look out the window.

Yato, upon recognition, beamed at Kofuku and tugged Hiyori up to them. The two floated outside the window, Yato and Kofuku frantically waving at each other, while Hiyori and Daikoku politely nodded heads. Yato introduced them to Hiyori, then tried to introduce her to the other two.

"We can't hear you! You idiot!" Daikoku shouted at the glass. The girls tried to calm down the men glaring and yelling at each other. The Eve's helmet projected her name to the two, who did the same. Hiyori put her hand over Yato's before he could try pressing more buttons. She then showed her wrist and pointed at it. Daikoku projected the time, which startled Hiyori.

"Yato!" Hiyori grabbed his wrist, "We have to go meet Yukine!" Yato nodded then turned to wave goodbye. Kofuku and Diakoku waved back, leaning together.

Two floors above, Suzuha was handing off the plant to his friend. While they were both working, Yukine explained the bare minimum. Enough for Suzuha to understand the urgency, but not enough for him to get into too much trouble. Hopefully. The gardener was a smart boy, so he knew they should, at least, be crouching behind the bush.

"Okay, so, I checked it and it was a little deprived. So I changed the soil and gave it water. I'm worried about sunlight, I kept it under the light during my check up. The ship's lights try to replicate the sun light, but it's made for humans so it's really muted." Suzuha pressed the plant into Yukine's waiting hands, looking over his shoulder. Yukine peeked around too, sticking the plant back in his overalls.

"You have about a week without water till symptoms start setting in."

"Got it," Yukine started to leave, "Thanks Suzuha."

"Wait." Suzuha grabbed the Mo's shoulder. Yukine looked back in confusion. His friend looked concerned.

"Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, this guy isn't forcing you? Or blackmailing you into anything?" Suzuha's words fell off at the end.

"No he isn't," the gardener's hand fell off Yukine's shoulder, "I'm following him because I want too. He needs me. He-" Yukine's voice changed into a squeak. Suzuha leaned forward more, trying desperately to read his friend's red face.

"He?" Suzuha pressed.

"He, adopted me?" Yukine hid his eyes.

"He adapted you? To what?"

"Never mind! It's fine, trust me! He's harmless!" Yukine squawked out, waving his hands between them. Yukine got up on one knee sputtering out he had to go.

"I'll see you later. Thanks for all your help!" Yukine took a couple steps, keeping his eyes on Suzuha. His friend waved with a nervous expression.

"Bye Mo! Be careful!" Suzuha said. After a couple paces, the Mo stopped and turned back around.

"And by the way," Yukine smiled at his friend's confused face, "He gave me a name too. It's Yukine!" He beamed. Yukine left the agriculture section with hurried nods to the other cyborgs, keeping a hand over the plant. The meeting place was two floors down and thankfully the elevator was empty. The plant felt cool and light under his overalls, the glass smooth and slightly dirty. Probably from that gross Earth cleaner.

When the elevator opened, Yukine quickly dashed to the left, following his downloaded GPS. The closet was just up ahead. A warning covered the map, signaling oncoming cyborgs. Dangerous cyborgs.

"This miscreant is even more crafty than I thought," Lieutenant General Bishamon said. Her steps were fluid and controlled, the clacking of her heels telling Yukine it was time to hide.

"Indeed Lieutenant General Bishamon, that is why it is of the utmost importance he is captured." The Go-4 agreed. Bishamon let out a light laugh.

"Please Kuguha, there is no need for formalities. We work closely after all." Bishamon polity insisted. Kugaha shared her friendly laughter. Yukine curled in on himself from the floor of a parked transport, just out of the hallway.

"Yes, but you are an icon among the workers here. If anyone can bring this murder to justice, it's you."

"You flatter me. It's necessary the infected is brought to justice. For the safety of the people. But I can't help but wonder why I must bring him in alive? And with all his things?" Bishamon had a hand on her chin, looking down as she walked by. Kuguha walking briskly next to her, trying to keep up with her long strides.

"That is the captain's orders! Nothing we can do but obey!" Kugaha assured. Brushing off the thought with idle gossip about the caption's two cyborg helpers. Yukine held his breath for a little longer, then dared to peek over the side. The coast was clear. Yukine rushed towards the closet.

The Mo was panting by the time he reached the meeting place, right on time too. It wasn't like he ran, not wanting to bring attention to himself, it was more that he held his breath every time he passed a hallway. He pressed his back to the closet door, looking back and forth as he reached for his belt. Remembering he gave Hiyori his key card, Yukine typed in his code manually.

"Hey I got the-" Yukine's sentence fell off at the sight of his two friends. Hiyori and Yato stepped apart, but remained close enough where they can keep they're heads bowed together in contained giggles.

"Oh, Yukine!" Hiyori snorted, "Thank the stars you made it safely!" Yato swallowed down more laughter and wiped tears. He was back in his hideous wear-alls, dirt still in tact.

"Kiddo! You're back! We missed you so much!" Yato came towards his kid with open arms only to be pushed aside.

"Yeah clearly. Glad to see you two having fun. Am I the only one taking things seriously? We are in serious trouble! And you! You're in danger!" Yukine shouted pointing between Yato's eyes. Yato gave a confused look, but his merriment was still there.

"Danger? Me?" Yato asked.

"What do you mean, Yukine?" Hiyori stepped forward.

"The Secur-Ts are after us. But they want Yato brought straight to the captain." Yukine said. Hiyori looked puzzled by this. Yato did too but for a different reason.

"Is that bad?" Yato looked between them.

"Normally the Secur-T handle who they apprehended. Very rarely the co-captain brought in, let alone the captain. And for the captain to get involved in the search at the very beginning, and then ask to bring you in." Hiyori trailed off with furrowed eye-brows.

"Are you sure it was the captain's orders?" Yato doubted. This caused a chilled silence in the air. One of the two youngsters didn't quite understand.

"You idiot! What did you do to offend the captain?" Yukine growled and gave the Wall-E's arm a good smack.

"He didn't seem too upset with you. But then who?" Hiyori puzzled over it. Yato watched her closely, her cleverness was another thing he admired, but it caused worry to claw at his heart.

"No, he didn't. I think it's still safe to give him the plant." Yato said. Beside him, Yukine nodded.

"Right. What's important is getting the plant to the captain."

The trio made it back to the top deck without a hitch. By now, artificial night had fallen, the LED lighting and animated ceiling all turned off. Ads have been switched to only turn on when movement is sensed and shops have been shut and locked. The white floor lines illuminated most of the room while soft lights spotted along the wall. All the smaller pools were closed over with flooring, one large pool was still open for two people to float above it.

The three hid behind a large towel rack standing to the right of the hallway leading to the elevator. The two waited for Hiyori to catch her breath, fatigue starting to show.

"Maybe you should rest." Yukine held a hand out to her but was waved off. Instead she took the plant from him.

"I'm going up there, it's better if I go alone but if something happens I need one of you to wait here and be look out." Hiyori popped out one of the speakers from her head piece. It was a small round object, able to fit in an ear.

"Ill do it." Yato accepted the earpiece and fixed it in his ear. Yukine looked between them during a beat of silence.

"What should I do?" Yukine piped up. Yato and Hiyori looked at each other.

"Uh," Yato looked around, his eyes catching the two people splashing in the pool, "How about you go help out my friends over there." Yukine looked to where he was pointing, turning back to Yato with a fierce scowl.

"Really? Don't play with me. And not everyone is your friend-"

"No I'm serious! The adorable little lady is named Kofuku and her scruffy companion is Diakoku." Yato said. Yukine looked less angry but still suspicious. Hiyori stepped in with an encouraging smile.

"We do know them. They're nice people." Hiyori encouraged. Yukine huffed at Hiyori, glaring at Yato who whined at his kid not trusting him, then slinked off towards the pool. Hiyori nodded to Yato and made her way down the hall. Yato watched, just before she entered the lobby Hiyori stopped and looked off to the right. After a couple seconds she stepped into the trash shoot, boots lighting up.

"Clever girl." Yato thought with a smile. He settled on the floor with his legs in a pretzel, sighing and closing his eyes. His days back on Earth seemed so long ago, it seemed like he had been running for days. It's not like he was tired, his battery still okay, but he did feel a little drained. Whatever adrenaline that kept Yato on his toes was starting to ebb away. The Wall-E shut his eyes and pointed his chin towards the ceiling.

"Please stop splashing in the pool!" A baritone voice pleaded. The splashing and laughter that echoed stopped for another deep voice to growl.

"Leave me and the lady alone! Can't you see we're on a date?" Daikoku's question was followed by the sound of a more violent splash. Kofuku's squeal followed with some laughter.

"Come on, Kunimi! You're such a buzz kill. Yuki! Come in the water with us!" she called.

"Miss Kofuku you should really come out. The pool closed an hour ago!" Yukine pleaded with the hyper woman. Yato felt himself smile. Daikoku tried calling to the kid too, shooing away the lifeguard.

Could he stay with them? If all goes well, the humans would return to Earth- a littered one- and he would have to continue his job. Yukine would have to work inside somewhere, after the buildings got fixed. And Hiyori, well, what would Eves be needed for? Yato's eyes opened slowly, watching billions and billions of galaxy drift by.

On the other hand, the plant doesn't make it to the captain. Maybe they lose it, or the Go-4 succeeds in blowing it up, or they're here so long it dies. What then? Constantly on the run from the Auto on a luxury cruise ship, laughing and hiding in closets, always having each other's back. Maybe they use an escape pod and travel to another ship. Maybe travel the universe.

The Wall-E's sensors lit up again. It's that bimbo security agent and her four-eyed follower. Yato sprang to his feet and climbed up the towel shelving. Bishamon was coming from his left around the corner, the pool was to his right. Yato frantically waved his arms from the little crook in the wall, hidden from the Secur-T's view. A couple more steps and Yukine would be found for sure.

Daikoku was the first to notice Yato, making a fool of himself over Kunimi's shoulder. When he pointed it out to Yukine, the kid made a 'what?' face. Yato pointed to the right, arms moving like he was running. Yukine looked wide-eyed to where he was pointing waving his arms in panicked question. Yato paniced too, Yukine would get caught before he did.

"Quick, Yuki!" Kofuku connected the dots quickly, flapping her hand towards her.

"Come on kid! We'll hide you!" Daikoku moved a bit away from Kofuku. Yukine didn't think twice, pinching his nose and leaping into the pool cannonball style. Kofuku and Diakoku moved side by side, hovering over the Mo. Daikoku silenced Kunimi with a death glare. Yato looked for a moment longer, his kid covered by shadow and the water ripples. He crouched back behind the towels, frantically looking around for a hiding spot.

Now that he thought about it, Hiyori was gone a long time. Giving her the warning in person seemed like a much better idea now than using the earpiece. With one last look around, Yato snuck down the hall, the trash shoot in his sights.

Yato flipped open the trash door, the tube was long and pitch black. Yato took a deep breath and placed one foot in. He used his knees and hands to push his back against the wall above the door. Yato crawled up the tube, slipping now and again, his compactor clanking the sides. The Wall-E kept his eyes up, picturing Hiyori who faced the wolves alone, high against the stars.

He hoped she was alright.


	10. Chapter 10

It's a little unconventional for an Eve to come bursting out of the trash shoot. But Hiyori stepped out proudly, showing the plant to the occupants of the room. Captain Tenjin stared with wide eyes, jaw dropping a little more every second. Beside him, a Pr-T dressed in pink with short black hair asked what the meaning of the rude disturbance was. Tenjin waved at the other woman, a beautiful cyborg with the ends of her long hair tied at the waist. She leaned forward to hear his words.

"Tsuyu, take Mayu and leave. Not a word of this." Tenjin look at Mayu as well. Both woman nodded in compliance, quickly taking their leave. Once the door slid shut behind them, the captain drifted forward.

"You found it." Tenjin leaned forward to take it from Hiyori, holding it in his hands like a poor man who was just given gold.

"Yes sir, but there's something I have to tell you. I think-"

"-What was it like?" Tenjin questioned. Hiyori blinked, thrown off her train of thought.

"What was what-?"

"The planet. What was Earth like? The 'skyscrapers'? What of the libraries? The 'Gothic Architecture' and art?" Tenjin got louder with his inquiries, sounding like a king making declarations. He hovered away from the Eve, trading the plant in either hand as he flung his arms up towards the sky. Hiyori stepped forward, hands out and ready to dive to catch the glass bottle.

The captain came back to stop where he was before, in front of the halo-screen of his computer. Now, Hiyori could see why the room was dimmed. The computer showed overlapping pictures of agriculture under a blue sky, thin humans in old clothing dancing in a line, and framed smudgy images. Tenjin grew quiet. Hiyori choose to stay silent, somberness settling in the room.

"We lost so much," Tenjin looked at the plant, "We ran away from the responsibility of care, in favor of being softened by comfort." The captain of Heaven's Sun turned to look at Hiyori with a truly mournful expression.

"It's not the same, is it?" Tenjin drove his chair back towards Hiyori, eyes downcast. In his other hand, he held a stick-like device. A helmet projector. He held it to her, barley noticing when she took it and plugged it into the side of her helmet.

Tenjin took a sharp breath at the first couple seconds of the flat, brown landscape. His lips pressed together as her camera pointed down when she scanned the ground, the pieces of glass and plastic clear as stars. Tenjin saw the ship leave the dull blanket of pollution clouds through the hole it first made, before the camera turned to the skeleton outline of the city. He turned away, gazing out the window at the stars

Hiyori looked sadly after her captain, feeling the slightest guilt at having to be the one to show him the reality of her mission. Hiyori looked meekly back at the recording, smiling slightly at the part where she was introduced to Nora. Next came the movie night, to Hiyori's embarrassment, in which the opening song started to play.

"I recognize that tune," Tenjin said from behind the chair, "it's from that cartoon franchise?" He leaned heavily on the arm of the chair, rubbing his face and eyes. The captain then looked at the baby cherry blossom and smiled.

"I should probably get you some water." Tenjin said, making his way to the sink in the corner. At this point, the recording showed her stepping into the pod, laying down as the glass door shut over her. Smoke filled her screen, then the recording went black.

Hiyori looked down at her hands, twisting her fingers together. Earth wasn't so bad. Not much different than the other dessert planets the ship passed. At the very least, she thought with a smile, Yato was very fond of Earth. He said he had things he wanted to do with her.

Hiyori looked back up to the screen, the words 'Syncing Pod Security Camera' printed bold over a loading wheel. The screen was then split into six sections 'Front', 'Rear', 'Left', 'Right', 'Top', and 'Bottom'. Yato was gazing down from the top, first curious and nervous, then sad. He placed a hand lightly on the glass top, holding it there for a bit before sitting down on the ground. His hand left a mark, something she often chastised him for.

The right camera focused on him sitting criss-cross with the side of his head resting gently against the side. The footage didn't sense any more movement, so it skipped ahead to later that evening. Yato was still in the same spot on the ground, but looking up. Her audio caught rumbling in the distance and Yato got up and left the screen. Just as it had started to pour, Yato came back with an umbrella which he held over the pod. Hiyori watched as she was pushed inside his home, and her pod was wiped dry by the scarf Yato wore around his neck.

"There we go, all clean!" Yato looked down with a small smile. She had spent enough time with him by now to know it was forced. Her pod took up most of the space, so the bottom camera recorded him army crawling under her to get to his bed in the corner. Yato tossed the blanket over her again, fixing it so her face wasn't covered, then curled up on the mattress.

Movement wasn't caught again until morning, when he took off the blanket and brought her back outside. He sat back down in his usual spot with a stick to doodle in the ground with. Then, he talked. The Wall-E talked to her, asked her questions she would never answer, told her his dreams, his experience, what he liked and didn't like. Among other things.

"I know you told me not to move you," Yato's voice came from her speaker, "But I wanted to show you so many things. I wanted to take you to Capybara land- you like the movie right- and show you mountains. If you liked watching the fire, there's an oil spill we can light up. I wanted to show you the view from the tallest tower while having a picnic. Show you all my favorite books in the library, I told you I read them all four times didn't I? And take you treasure hunting!" Yato stopped drawing and pulled his knees to his chin.

"Would you even like that? Do humans find that fun?" He buried his face in his knees.

"What's it like being human, on that ship? I read that loneliness can kill creatures but," he looked back up with glazed eyes, "I'm still here. Functioning just as I always have." He went silent again. Hiyori felt her hands squeeze, the back of her eyes going hot.

"Want to hear a secret?" the audio asked. Hiyori barley nodded. There was some shuffling, and Hiyori looked back to the feed to see Yato scooting close to her, leaning in to share.

"I was the prototype for the Auto pilot for Heaven's Sun." Yato said looking directly at the camera. He smile grew a bit as he looked over his shoulder then back at her.

"It's kinda a huge top-secret thing. But my biological father was the man who successfully merged human and tech. He was known as-"

"The Crafter." Hiyori breathed in shock.

"Once he became head and over-saw production of the other cyborgs, plans for the Auto became apparent. I was the first test for that form of cyborg, something that my father himself designed and worked on. No one else. Even better, I was successful. It was a rocky start- of course I'm still a Wall-E, obviously- but our overall design and systems are the same. Different from all the other cyborgs out there, since we were made by him alone. Everyone else was made by his underlings." Yato rolled his eyes at that part, then grew serious once more.

"Father had us train together under his careful watch. Me and Kouto. We had to be strong, 'broken in', in order to handle the old fashioned surgery. He never did like the fact I could beat him. He was a prissy rich boy while I was often left alone. Ran with the wrong crowd and all that. And being a street-rat puts you in a lot of fights," He smiled and thumbed to himself, "So I often came out on top." Yato went back to his criss-cross position. Hiyori crept even closer, her mouth was quivering and she didn't know why. Her cheeks felt warm and she felt her eyes crinkle at the corners. She squeezed her hands together even tighter over over beating heart.

"But, dad wanted me to stay away from the rest of humanity. Clean up a human-free world." He finished. Tenjin came back in the room, watching Yato show Hiyori how to play Tic-Tac-Toe. He smiled at Hiyori though the screen.

"Auto? Can you come in here?" Tenjin spoke to the arm of his chair. The Eve jumped, words clogging her throat. She never got to tell him! It wasn't just a theory or speculation anymore, the Auto might really have it out for Yato. When did she start trusting him over her own Copilot? Her mouth was open when Kouto's door slid open behind her.

He wore the same pristine white and black suit he always did, both arms folded neatly behind his back. He scanned the room with a blank expression, eye brow raising at the sight of Hiyori, but he didn't look surprised in the least. Hiyori quickly unplugged the projector and hid it behind her back.

"Captain?" Kouto cocked his head at Tenjin as he made his way across the room. His eyes locked on the plant, his strides became more urgent, powerful. The Auto stopped directly in front of Captain Tenjin, who seemed to have a new resolve.

"Auto, Miss Iki found the plant again. Start the protocol." Tenjin gave the order and began driving away. Kouto stepped in front of him again with an out-stretched hand.

"Of course Captain. Give it to me, I'll see to it immediately." Kouto bowed a little with a smile. Hiyori stepped forward a bit, not wanting to defile her protocol but caring less and less at this point.

"Captain." They both looked to her, Tenjin a little impatient but confused. The Auto gave her the same look of contempt he gave Yato, eyes flashing a deep blood red. More machine than man.

"Eve," Kouto addressed Hiyori, "Your loyalty to Heaven's Sun is admirable, but your service here is no longer necessary. Please return to your commander." Kouto didn't look twice at her, turning back to Captain Tenjin.

"Now. Sir. The plant." He moved his hand closer. Tenjin looked at it, then at Hiyori as she stepped closer, then back at his co-pilot.

"Auto, I feel compelled to do it myself. As the captain of Heaven's Sun."

"That isn't necessary, sir. I promise you will receive full credit and I will be more than happy to take care of this matter myself."

"This isn't a matter of credit, Auto. People have become far too reliant on the luxury of having things done for them. I for one will no longer stand for it," Tenjin pushed past Kuoto again, "If we want to change things for the better, it's best to start with the change of mind." Tenjin asserted. Hiyori breathed a sigh of relief, feeling pride and gratefulness for her captain.

For a moment, Kouto remained still, eyes overcast as his back returned to being ram-rod straight. His arm then quickly stuck out, hand gripping the top of the captain's chair in a vice. Tenjin lurched backwards, chair rearing back dangerously. This time Hiyori did come forward, watching as the chair fought for a moment before sinking back to in front of the Auto. She caught Tenjin's shocked expression before he was spun around. Kouto kept a hand by the captain's head, other hand still outstretched.

"Captain, please, I insist. Hand over the plant to me." Kouto said. Hiyori came to the side of her captain, fixing Kouto with a glare as she put a hand in her gun.

"Kouto, what is the meaning of this? Explain yourself," Tenjin pressed at Kouto's silence, "That's an order." Tenjin brushed off his hand as Kouto straightend back up. The Auto stared down at his Captain, watching the plant get tucked away under Tenjin's coat.

"Aye, Aye Captain. This way, please." Kouto marched across the room to his own computer, typing in his password. He then pulled out an old key from under his uniform, hanging from a chain. Flipping up a plastic square cover, Kouto stuck the key into the motherboard. The computer went black, then the text 'A113' flashed in white letters. The screen went dark again until a dark red cartoon eye opened up on the screen.

"Subject 2. Access granted." said a voice that seemed to jump octaves. A video began playing. Front and center was a large man dressed in a long white lab coat with a black shirt underneath. He had scraggly, almost unkempt black hair that swept over his eyes. He sat as a desk, it's contents hard to make out due to the overall darkness of the room. The light that flicked from behind him, casted a glow over his upturned lips.

Hiyori and Tenjin sucked in a breath. Even with the poor lighting, they knew exactly who this was. A controversial man who's face and alias was in almost every text book.

"The Crafter." Hiyori let out a hushed whisper.

"Hello Heaven's Sun," The Crafter began, "I imagine if you're viewing this, a significant time has past since your departure from this lovely planet you destroyed." The Crafter sat back in his chair, letting it sway to the side, humorless grin still in place.

"The fact of the matter is, this planet is no longer capable of supporting human life. I realize the politicians told the public my creations- my army- would be able to clean up after us in five years. This was, is, a lie. In fact no creation on Earth can erase what we have done to this planet. So, just a few hours ago, before the grand departure, my closest confidants and I have issued 'A1-13'. The command that the ships will be cruising indefinitely."

"'Indefinitely'?" Tenjin cried in outrage. Kouto's attention did not waver from the man projected in front of them. The Crafter still stayed staring off somewhere above the camera, he brought his legs up on the table and crossed them at the ankles. He checked his watch then crossed his arms.

"All ships have been equipped to run for eternity. So long as all cyborgs do their job, humanity will be able to live happy, carefree lives on the ships forever," he waved his hands in fake cheer, "By now, all the space cruisers have left. Making me the last man on Earth," his smile finally disappeared as he mumbled, "Subject 1 should be leading out the other cleaners right at this very moment." The Crafter went silent. He then sat up at his desk, folding his arms one over the other.

"All of this has been set in motion. In correspondence to A1-13, 'Operation: Recolonized' is dismissed. No human shall return to this tarnished planet. Ever," he smiled again and stood up, "This is the last human on Earth, 'The Crafter', signing off." Yato's father said his goodbyes and his smile cut out from the screen, the blood-red eye symbol showing in his place. Kouto took out the key, placing it back around his neck and under his collar, then turned to the Captain.

"As you can see, Captain, our superiors have ordered us to remain in space. That plant is no longer necessary," The Auto held out his hand in a more exasperated fashion, "Now if you would just give it to me, I will properly dispose of it and everything can go back to locating the stowaway." Kouto stated. Tenjin moved backwards with suspicious eyes.

"No, wait a second. If he sent that out the day we departed, than that information is nearly 700 years old. Clearly he was wrong!" Tenjin waved the plant at the Auto. Red eyes flared up with a raging fire, but Kouto's face remained neutral.

"The Crafter was not wrong. You saw the video, those Wall-Es failed to clean up the planet, even after all this time. One measly vine does not mean an entire population can be sustained." Kouto's voice was heated as he kept his tight position. Tenjin was shocked by the demeanor his co-pilot emitted, backing up an inch more.

To both the men's surprise, Hiyori stepped between them. She took care not to fully block the Captain, but she fixed Kouto with a look of absolute fury.

"If The Crafter was the last human, the last man of great power on Earth, than that must be the last transmission to be sent out to any ship." Hiyori gouged the Auto's expression. His went wide for a moment, before shifting to a more puzzled look.

"Yes. That is correct. None of the cleaners had access to the motherboard." Kouto started to look a bit amused when this information riled up Hiyori even more. The captain called her name in question when she took a step towards Kouto, fist balled up at her side.

"Then how would knowledge of the Wall-Es dying off even reach the ship in the first place!" Hiyori raged. She never raised her voice, taught otherwise, but she never felt such anger before. Never felt like this before. In the short time she's known Yato, she's felt more emotions than she's ever felt in her entire life on this cushioned ship. All of them, real and strong. Alive. Just like Yato.

Hiyori continued to seethe, arms shaking at her side. She bared her teeth, waiting for the Co-pilot's denial that never came. Beside her, Tenjin moved forward, his face of equal outrage.

"The only way for that information to carry over was for it be pre-meditated. Auto, explain yourself! Was the Wall-Es' deaths your doing?" Tenjin roared. After a beat of silence, Kouto let out a sigh, a ghost of a smile coming across his face.

"Now captain, that is just ludicrous. I can assure you I had nothing to do with the deaths of the Wall-Es."

"But you knew about it." Hiyori demanded. Stepping forward again.

"Irrelevant. Operation: Clean-Up has failed," The Auto narrowed his eyes at the Eve, "We must follow directive."

"Now you listen here, Kouto," Tenjin came forward again, "If my research of our records is to be trusted, that planet is capable of holding thousands of magnificent species. Most of which cannot survive without our help. Our ancestors made this mess, but we have the power and the technology to help. Turning our backs for the sake of luxury is not a liable answer. It's an excuse," Tenjin glared up at Kouto, "We have to go back. As the 27th Captain of Heaven's Sun I order you to open up the hallow detector."

Captain Tenjin heaved a breath, eyes never wavering from his Co-pilot's. Hiyori looked at her captain once more, wanting to smile but too angry to do so. Kouto stared at Tenjin for what felt like centuries. Letting out another sigh, Kouto dispersed all the tension in the room.

"Very well," Kouto reached up to tap his own ear-piece, "Go-4 get in here." Hiyori let a breath of relief, holding her hand over her pounding heart. She was worried for nothing. Just because Yato didn't like the co-pilot, did not make him evil. After all, they were trained under the same man. Kouto was just doing his job.

"Miss Hiyori." Tenjin hissed urgently next to her. Hiyori looked over in question. Her captain gripped the arms of his chair tightly, teeth grinding together as his eyes flicked to the elevator door. Hiyori's heart jumped in her throat, the Go-4's sketchy aura and face creeped into her mind. Just as fear laced itself in her system, the elevator doors opened, and Kuguha stepped through. He approached the captain without prompt.

"This is mutiny!" Tenjin backed away with the plant but was too slow to hide it. Kuguha whipped out a hand from under his pancho, a red beam of light coming from a black dot at the center of his palm. The plant was tugged into a sphere of the red light and harshly yanked back to Kuguha.

"Eve, arrest them." Tenjin turned his eyes to Hiyori who nodded.

"Right." Hiyori equipped her blaster, pointing it at Kuguha, wiping off his smug grin.

"Go-4, surrender the plant," Hiyori held out her palm, "now." Kuguha's eyes locked into the gun and his one hand came up in peace. He took a step forward, awkward smile crawling back onto his face.

"All right, Miss Hiyori, there's no need for violence. A pretty young thing like you can't handle-" Once Kuguha got close enough, he tossed the plant over the Eve's shoulder. At the distraction, Hiyori couldn't react fast enough. Her arm below the gun was grabbed and a shot was fired up into the ceiling. Hiyori was whirled around, arm held between her shoulder blades, her back was pressed against his chest. She struggled against his hold, glaring up at the tanned cyborg then at the co-pilot. Kouto looked at her with a corrupt smile, eyes mocking her while she fought, he reached up to tap his ear piece again.

"Wall-H when's the next scheduled trash evacuation? Perfect," Kouto walked the plant over to the trash can, "No, no, everything is fine. I'm sending something down to be added to the next removal." The Auto thanked the worker, violently kicking the captain's chair away when he made a lunge for it, and let the bottle fall down the shoot. Hiyori let out a shout as the plant tumbled into darkness.


	11. Chapter 11

Yato grunted and pushed himself up a couple more feet. What was he thinking? Hauling himself up the dark, dingy trash shoot. He should've just wrestled Take and Kiun into letting him use the elevator. Well, at least the exit was in sight, a half circle light reflected against the wall. He hoped his kid was okay, Daikoku and Kofuku seem like the type to like kids. Yato got closer, sweat starting to make his hands slip. Voices echoed from the captain's chamber, too quiet to make out. He did hear a higher pitch, so at least Hiyori wasn't being whisked away again.

The voices got louder as he trucked along, he could make out Hiyori's and the grating sound of that heaven-awful Auto. There were two others, the captain maybe? They sounded much more urgent. Yato's head whipped up when he heard Hiyori cry out and the sound of a blaster being fired.

"Hiyori!" Yato forced himself to move faster, urgency beating his heart. Just as his head was starting to catch the cracks of light, the shoot opened and he froze. Something shiny was tossed down and cracked him on the head. The door slammed shut as the object tumbled off his head and landed neatly between his shoulder and the compator handle. It was the plant, the bottom part of the bottle now a bit cracked. Yato quickly tucked it into the front pocket of his uniform, his label stitched over top, then stuck his fingers through the trash door.

With an echoed grunt his hand shoved up the flap and he heaved himself though he opening, waist crunching like getting out of a pool. He tumbled out onto the floor. Yato's groan was the only noise in the captain's chamber, voices silent. He rubbed his head then looked up to see everyone staring at him. Hiyori was the first to move.

"Yato! The plant!" Hyori called. Yato watched her struggle against the arms of that bug-eyed cyborg.

"Hiyori! Hands off her you-" Yato made a move to get up, only to be knocked fiercely to the side. He recovered on his hands and knees, looking to see Kouto standing next to where he tumbled in. The Auto's arms folded neatly behind his back, eyes flashing murderously down at Yato.

"Well, would you look at that. Here I am ordering my best hunt you down, yet you landed right at my feet," Kouto walked towards him as Yato got to his feet, "Now, give me the plant."

"Don't do it, Yato!" Hiyori shouted. She slammed her boot into the Go-4's legs, knocking him off balance. Her elbow came around and cracked him in the nose as he grappled her wrist to point the gun anywhere but him.

The Auto took advantage of the distraction, and lunged at the Wall-E, who sidestepped and took a swing at Kouto. His punch was met with a block and the two separated in the opposite direction. Hiyori quickly pointed her gun at the co-pilot, only to have her feet taken out from under her. Kugaha took the opportunity to pin her while she struggled, flipping her over and grabbing her wrists again. Captain Tenjin struggled from the floor, crawling towards his downed chair and trying desperately to get it righted.

Yato took a slow breath, his mind reverting back to old habits and experience. He quickly scooped up the plant and locked it in the compactor. Both cyborgs settled into a fighting stance, eyeing each other with equal distain. Hiyori struggled on her stomach, both her hands- and her gun- held captive in the Go-4's red light orb. But neither Yato or Kuoto paid any mind anyone else in the room.

Yato ran forward and threw another punch. Kouto ducked and kicked at the Wall-E's feet. Yato jumped back, and quickly threw up a guard against the Auto's flying fist. A brown boot shot out and hit Kouto squarely in the torso, sending him backwards into the motherboard. The Co-pilot's head lulled back into the rubble as Yato rushed forward again. He aimed a punch right between the eyes, only to have it be embedded into the control panel. Kouto grabbed Yato's arm with one hand, and swung with the other, cracking Yato's jaw. His elbow followed, drawing blood as Yato ripped himself away. Kouto tried to follow, only to have Yato kick him back a step.

The two met again, striking and blocking, attacking and parring. When Kouto threw a roundhouse kick, Yato spun his body so Kuoto's ankle met the iron of his compactor, knocking the plant around inside. Yato managed to get a couple hits in, before he was head butted and flipped onto another part of the motherboard. His heavy boots shattering the glass pane of the captain's chamber, falling to the deck below.

The Wall-E was unfazed, he spun himself around, heels hitting Kuoto's jaw straight on. The Auto staggered back, holding his face, glaring as the Wall-E righted himself. Both were panting, blood splattered across them here and there. The captain continued to shout profanities as Hiyori struggled against her captor, begging Yato to stop. Kugaha, too, was starting to look a bit out of this league.

"That crash probably alerted the Secur-T," Kouto said, wiping blood from his nose, "They'll be here any minute to arrest you."

"Like I'm afraid of some sheltered mall cops." Yato huffed back. His eyes flickered to Hiyori on the ground, her pleading expression squeezing his heart. She too, had blood trickling from her nose. Suddenly, Kouto was nose-to-nose with Yato.

"Where are you looking?" The Auto provoked, fist coming around to slam into Yato's cheek. He lunged again and a deeply buried instinct rushed forward and took hold of the Wall-E's limbs. His hooks unclasped instantly and he gripped his compactor, swinging it around at a blinding speed. The swift motion was build for centers of experience. The angle was perfect, the roll of his wrist was mechanic, the steel corner perfectly sliced across Kouto's neck.

For the breifest of seconds, there was nothing, then the telltale squirt of blood being pumped out of a wound make itself known. Red painted the floor, and stained the white of the co-pilot's uniform like a bib. The Auto staggard backwards, clutching his neck, blood seeping through his fingers. Despite this, Kouto managed a smirk. Yato narrowed his eyes, refastening his compactor onto his back, and standing upright.

A happy 'ding' made itself known. Hiyori gasped from under Kugaha's foot. The elevator doors slid open, the light blinding the dark room. A body came through, short and blonde.

"Yato! Hiyori! Are you-" Yukine stopped short. His wide eyes went from Hiyori on the floor, to Yato, to the blood coloring the co-pilot's clothes.

"Yukine!" Hiyori cried, squirmed against Kugaha.

"Go-4, grab him!" Kouto pointed at the Mo.

"Kid, look out!" Yato reached for his kid, only to have his wrist grabbed. Kouto used his other hand to grab the back of Yato's head. Yanking his wrist, the Auto swung Yato's head around and slammed him face-first into the control panel. The Wall-E let out a strangled grunt, blinking away stars. Behind them, Yukine cried out, the sound of a thud following.

Hiyori shouted out as Yukine hit the ground hard, the Go-4 standing over him. Kugaha's light still held Hiyori's hand captive, while his other hand curled into a fist. Yato struggled to see Yukine, getting his teeth against the frustration.

"You can't save him." Kouto hissed in his ear. Yato fought against the Auto's body weight, the handle of his own compactor pinning him down. From the floor, Yukine was clutching his cheek with wide eyes, crawling away from the Go-4.

"Yukine!" Hiyori rose to a sitting position, "Use your roller! Like Yato does!" she shouted. Kugaha looked back at her with a glare.

"Hey! Shut it-" Kugaha's head was suddenly flung forward. Yukine's staff made a sickening crack as it whacked the Go-4's head a second time. He took a step back when Kugaha whipped his head around at the kid, blood no dyeing his long grey hair. Yukine brased the roller in front of him, forcing his shaking knees apart.

Kugaha stepped forward with a smile. He threw a kick out that Yukine blocked with the poll, stumbling to the side with a noise of shock. Kugaha went at Yukine again, grunting when he had to dodge another swing of the Mo's roller. Yukine took another hit to the face and shoulder, fear beginning to set in. Both of his friends struggled, the captain crying out in alarm and fury.

Yukine coughed and tried to catch his breath, moving to his feet to prepare for the next strike. But Kugaha didn't move. Yukine's eyes were drawn to the Go-4's fingers, the ones that remained pointed at Hiyori. The light holding her was stretched thin. Yukine rose to his feet once more, gripping the handle of his roller tightly. He turned it on, cranking it up to it's highest speed and glared at the grey-haired man before him.

"Why are you doing this?" Yato growled, his own eyes staring back at him within the glass's reflection. The stars gleamed from the outside. Kouto could see the uniformed Secur-Ts make their way down the hall in two perfect lines. Lead by Bishamon in a rush. The Auto clicked his tongue and hit a couple buttons to shut down the elevator without alerting the Typ-Es. Hopefully it would buy time to clean up this mess before they think to fly up here. Honestly, this disorder was unprecedented.

"I'm obeying orders. Human beings are a scourge. The Earth was never meant to be 'cleaned up'," Kouto snarled, "The Wall-Es were just a political act and needed to be removed from the picture."

This time Yukine dashed forward, keeping his tool low. Kuguha flinched into position, throwing out his leg. Yukine threw his body weight down, Kuguha's foot whizzing by his hair. The Mo slid along the polished floor, his roller hooking Kuguha's pivot foot. Yukine yanked and sent the Go-4 crashing to the ground, his chin cracking the ground.

Quickly, Yukine got to his feet, he swung the roller in a wide arc. The end of his roller whacked the back of Kuguha's hand, it's high speed spiral burning through the first couple layers of skin. Kuguha cried out in pain as smoke began hissing from his hand, electric sparks dancing from his finger tips. Hiyori fought to pull her hands apart, the red light flickering. Yato cheered them on, causing Kouto to boil over in rage.

"I've had enough of this!" The Auto roared. A short taser shot out from under the Auto's sleeve. Electricity sparked between two metal conductors, glowing a menacing pale blue. It buzzed with a high voltage. From across the room, Hiyori yanked her arms apart, breaking her restraints, the light evaporated. Yukine jumped to her side, roller raised in front of him. Hiyori pointed her gun at the man on the ground.

Yato's smile vanished when he felt the hum of Kouto's weapon near his cheek. Kouto's left hand still gripped the compactor's handle, his other raising to the nape of Yato's neck. The Wall-E knew what was about to happen, his reflection looking back at him with the same expression of pure terror. Even with this realization, Yato still had to ask.

"Wha-what are you doing?" Above his head Kouto's mouth twisted in a funny smile. The top half of his face was shadowed in the cracked window, save for his glowing red pupils. While Hiyori kept her gun trained on Kugaha, Yukine went to help the captain back in his seat.

"You want to know the best part about having the same creator?" Kouto purred. Yato felt the Auto's corpse-cold hand move up his neck, his first two fingers curling along the base of his skull. He moved aside whips of black hair to reveal an in-human strip of material that stretched along the cervical curve. Yato struggled as his friends called his name. Kouto only grinned when he clicked open the skin-colored strip, revealing the Wall-E's circuit board.

"I know all of your weak points," Kouto stabbed the taser into the bottom of Yato's skull, into his hard drive. Yato let out a harsh scream in pain, text and lights flickering across his vision as his spine and brain surged with electricity. Warning signs glitching in and out, overlapping with frantic numbers and symbols. Colors whirled across his vision so fast that it blurred his surroundings and made him nauseas. After what felt like an entirety, his muscles and body quivered then went slack, nerves boiling. Yato heard Hiyori and Yukine cry out, their voices sounding so far away. His vision went black, the mangled text 'Warning: Force Shut Down' the last thing he saw. Yato felt his hearing start to leave him as well. The last words were happily spoken above him.

"Goodnight, Yaboku."


	12. Chapter 12

The room stood still. They could do nothing as Yato's scream echoed in the room, then choked out into nothing. Kouto released a breath then stood up, Yato's body slid down the control panel, limp.

"There, you see?" Kouto yanked up Yato by his compactor before the Wall-E's body completely hit the floor.

"Now we can get back to A113." Kouto walked towards them in controlled steps, not hindered by the dead weight he dragged behind him. Hiyori and Yukine gaped at him, fear and disbelief rooting their feet to the floor. Tear welled up in Yukine's eyes as his breathing picked up. Hiyori's mouth worked uselessly, squeaks of straggled cries whispering along her breath. Kugaha took this oportinutiy to roll to his feet, taking off towards his superior.

"Wait stop!" Hiyori pointed her gun again but didn't shoot. Her hands were shaking and she couldn't focus on her system's auto-aim, Yato was still in the shot zone. Thankfully, Tenjin took control of his chair, rocketing himself foward and slamming into the Go-4's side, knocking him back to the floor. Captain Tenjin then lurched and grabbed hold of the poncho's loose turtle neck, ripping open the black clips that held it in place. Kugaha sputtered and shouted but he was too slow. Implanted at the bottom of his jugular was the Go-4's reset button. Tenjin didn't even want to think how many times his Auto had used it. His thumb slammed into the blue and yellow device, Kugaha struggled for a bit more before his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

His body was dropped to the floor with a powerful thump. Tenjin glared in spite from under his eye brows. Kouto was quiet for a moment, looking down his nose at the captain. He looked to Hiyori with her gun still trained on him, a tear rolling down her face. The Auto then looked down at the limp Wall-E at his side, and sighed.

"Really now," Kuoto said turning slightly so he could push open the trash door, "I'm just doing what's best for the ship. There's no need for such violence." He pushed the compactor's handle in first, then gripped Yato by his hair and heaved him in, Yato's boots dragging on the floor behind him.

"Stop!" Yukine cried, rushing towards the co-pilot and throwing his body at him in tackle. Kouto didn't even need to move his feet. Looking down at the blonde with a blank expression, he didn't react in the slightest. The Mo's fists balled up Kouto's pristine white coat and he struggled to knock him over, or kick his shins, or grabble Yato out of the shoot. The Auto's elbow swung around to crack Yukine in the forehead, sending him to the floor. He then kicked the rest of Yato's body down the tube, smiling to himself as he heard loud thuds get farther away. A blast suddenly hit him in face, followed by a shot to the chest.

Kouto stumbled back with a cry, his shoulders hitting the broken control panel. Eyes widening, he ducked as another stream of blue light hit right where his head was. Hiyori moved in, gun trained on her superior. He dashed to the side as Hiyori fired just behind him. She rushed over to Yukine and kept shooting. When Kuoto made it behind the elevator, and out of sight, Hiyori risked a glance at Yukine.

"Are you okay?" Hiyori looked frantically between the floor and the elevator wall, shooting when she saw the tiniest bit of red peek out. For the floor, Yukine sniffled and groaned, forcing himself to sit up. Blood streamed from a cut on his forehead.

"Captain!" Hiyori shouted, "Please barricade yourself in your room!" She nodded to the captain with wild eyes as he drove towards his door, disabling the lock pad and shutting the door behind him. The room was quite except for Hiyori's heavy breathing. The Auto hasn't move from his spot. Waiting patiently for an opening.

"Yukine?" Hiyori tried again, looking over her shoulder to see the empty spot on the floor. A splatter of blood where the Mo used to be. Her wide eyes darted to the elevator and around the room, finally catching Yukine push open the trash shoot behind her.

"Yu-Yukine!" Hiyori fully looked over her shoulder, watching Yukine hop in feet first, roller clanking along after him. When Hiyori looked back, Kuoto was already half way across the room, running swiftly and silently, the skin around his right eye scorched off. The glowing red and black mechanics making him look like a true cyborg. She gasped and fired off a shot, hitting the ground to the right of him. Kuoto didn't even blink, swerving around the hole in the floor and through the smoke. Hiyori clicked on her boots, taking to the air and shooting at him again. The Auto burst through the black smoke screen arms closing around the space Hiyori once occupied.

The trash flap closed with a loud clap. Kouto glanced around, straightening himself up with a grimace. They escaped. He produced a handkerchief from his front pocket and began dotting the blood streaming down his cheek while his sensors did a system check. He heard the sound of engines from the break in the window. A couple moments later, the golden hair of Sergant Major Bishamon rose to view followed by First Sergent Kazuma. They flew through the glass break without second thought. Though they did give him a horrified expression.

"Command Sergent, What happend here?" Bishamon demanded as her jets folded back into her shoulder blades. Behind her, a line of more Secur-T rose to the glass, halted by Kazuma, who scanned the room.

"They were here." Kazuma informed. Kuoto looked at the First Sergent, then nodded at Bishamon.

"It's true. They attacked. It seems the virus has spread to the Eve making her armed and dangerous." Kouto said.

"What of the captian?" Bishamon demand. Kouto growled at her tone but calmly held a hand up.

"I asked him to barricade himself in his room. Don't bother going to check, I instructed him to only answer to me."

"Very well," Bishamon nodded to the co-captain once then turned to Kazuma, "Leave a squadron here and set a perimeter. No one comes in or out of the captain's chambers. I want all units on an all out search. Alert the public all chambers will be investigated."

"That won't be necessary, Bishamon." Kouto cut in. Both Secur-Ts looked at him with shock.

"But sir-"

"I took care of them," The Auto said, smiling a little at their expressions, "Just have a Secur-T posted here for the time being." He pointed at the garbage door, letting the two come to their own conclusions.

"Sir," Bishamon stepped forward, "Did you-"

"The public cannot be bothered by such a trivial matter that can- and was- easily handled," Kuoto steady met the Sergent Major's gaze, "Their safety and happiness is our utmost priority. In a couple minutes everything will be handled, and you'll be back on damage control." He walked by the two and towards the Go-4 on the ground, not sparing them another glance.

Bishamon looked back at Kazuma who shared her twisted expression. Kazuma turned and beckoned Kuraha forward, commanding the bearded man to stay posted at the trash shoot. When he walked by, Bishamon put a hand on his shoulder and looked towards the Auto.

"Stay sharp. And do what is right." Bishamon whispered. Her subordinate nodded and took his post. From the floor, Kugaha groaned and woke up, sitting with his head in his hand. Kouto blinked down at him with one eye, then looked over at the two Secur-Ts

"That will be all, Sergent Major Bishamon." Kouto said. Bishamon narrowed her eyes at him, bowing before leaving back out the window. Kazuma close behind her.

"I don't like this Kazuma." Bishamon said before her boot even touched the ground.

"Indeed, every criminal is allowed trial with the captain. But if the cyborg has a virus, we are more than capable of curing it. On top of that, human Eves can't even get virus!" Kazuma held his chin, eyes opening the more he thought. Bishamon looked just as surpirsed.

"You're right. And why does he not want us to apprehend them? What does it mean he took care of them?" She turned to look at the garbage shoot. Kazuma followed her line of sight.

"The garbage shoot, huh?" Kazuma crossed his arms. They looked at each other, communicating with looks alone. With a nod, the two snuck away, out of sight.

Several floors below, Hiyori screeched to a halt just before hitting the cement floor. Dirt and paper flew out of the way of her engines before she cut them off. She looked around, the floor beanth her was relatively clean, at least free of garbage. In fact, it seemed a large pathway was cleared all the way to a smaller room off to Hiyori's left. She looked around, Yato and Yukine were no where to be seen. She heard urgent voices by the smaller room, shilohettes were shadowed by the bright white LEDs. Hiyori made her way towards them when their body langue became more demanding. Above them, a red light began flashing, a siren harshly sounding.

The massive doors slowly began to slide shut, the light closing in on Hiyori's path. Still, she could make out the shorter body of Yukine, shouting at a group of Wall-Hs. A large cyborg with a mop of thick brown hair had a massive hand over top of a control pad, his other arm blocking Yukine from getting to it.

"Yukine!" Hiyori called out to him as she ran up to the group. Yukine sparred her a glance before turning his glare back on the Wall-H.

"Please! You have to stop it! My dad's in there!" Yukine grabbed the man's wearalls and shook him. The man grabbed his hands and ripped them off his front.

"What are you talkin about? Cyborgs ain't got parents! Besides we got orders straight from the top!" The Wall-H said, pointing his massive shovel at the smaller room. Hiyori whipped her head towards the sliding doors in horror. Yato was in there. Unconscious and injured. Without another thought, Hiyori cranked up her rocket boots and leaned back. She flew towards the door, spinning to her side to make a tight turn right into the trash chamber. The Eve flipped on her helmet, it's invisible glass encasing her head and the scanner coming shine across the trash piles. Her helmet's speaker buzzed with static. She touched the side of her helmet with furrowed brows.

"Hi-yori?" Yato's voice crackled through the speaker. Hiyori's heart jumped to her throat, she nearly cried.

"The speaker!" Hiyori thought with pure euphoria, thanking the stars she gave it to him. She tapped the speaker.

"Yato? Yato! Where are you?" Hiyori zipped around, head looking around too fast for the scanner to fully get a read. She kept tapping the side of her helmet, calling Yato's name over and over only to receive static.

"Hiyori!" Her name echoed in the large white room. She looked towards the source, her relif dripping into fear with a jolt. Yukine stood with his knees bend, fists desperately trying to keep the roller from being bent by the doors. The doors pushed against the horizontal rod Yukine held up, large, dirty hands wrapping around the door to help keep it open.

"Hiyori!" Yukine shouted again, "Hurry up!"

"I'm trying!" Hiyori felt tears of frustration prick her eyes. The siren was loud but her heart was louder. The hollering of the Wall-Hs and Yukine became static to her panic. Then, cutting through it all, her speaker buzzed again.

"Fridge." Yato's voice spoke clearly in her ear. It took the Eve a couple seconds to process his words. But the she did.

"Fridge? A fridge!" Hiyori changed her scanner and and flew around the piles of shovled trash. Finally spotting a fallen refrigerator at the bottom of one of the piles. Yato on his stomach under it, one hazy blue eye trained on her.

"Yato!" Hiyori cried, swooping down next to him. She grabbed his wrists and pulled hard. Yato grunted in pain as he slid out, Hiyori apologizing over and over. By the time she worked him onto her back, the room sent out a warning that the space doors will be opening soon. She clicked on her boots again, rising above the trash piles and shooting towards Yukine. The kid was struggling, eyes squeezed together with stress.

"Hurry," Yukine grounded out, roller bending under the force of the doors. His eyes widened and fixated on something behind then. Hiyori felt herself be tugged backward. The space door opening a crack, the vacuum of space sucking up the lightest trash. She pushed harder, inching towards the entrance slowly. The air around them pulled harder and Hiyori gripped Yato tighter, his limp body starting to weigh them down.

A handle came into view, reading out far past Yukine's roller. A man with glasses and long brown hair was leaning over Yukine, extending his shovel to her.

"Miss Eve! Grab on!" He commanded. Hiyori stretched out a hand, desperately trying to keep Yato balanced on her back. Her fingers brushed against it before she was pulled back. When she reached at it again, the tips of her fingers curld around it. Once she was secure, Hiyori looked into the brown eyes of the Wall-H.

"I got it!" With a strong tug, Hiyori and Yato were safely back in the dump. The bear-like Wall-H wrapped a large arm around Yukine's torso and ripped him from the doors, the heavy metal slamming shut with a resounding slam. The wind pressure cut off immeitatly and Hiyori crashed to the ground, Yato falling off her shoulders.

"Yato!" Yukine squirmed out of the man's hold and scrambled to the Wall-E on the floor. Falling to his knees, Yukine shook Yato's shoulder, Hiyori collapsing next to him. Blood clotted his hair and face. Yato wheezed out shallow breaths, eyes glassy and unfocused.

"What were you kids doing in there?" The bifocaled man came to stand behind Yukine and Hiyori. He wore a loose grey outfit , stained with dirt and grime, thick brown strips wrapping around the edges. The man went ignored. Hiyori stepped over Yato, moving aside scorched hair to see destroyed wires and a shattered light blue plate. Blood was seeping from around the edge of the insert staining his circuits. Yato moaned, electricity sparked out of the broken wires.

Yukine shuffled even closer to Yato. Hiyori stopped him from leaning over and looking at the damage. The Mo sniffled, grabbing Yato's hand without a second thought. The Wall-E's eyes moved like molasses to look up at Yukine, face morphing to one of sorrow when he saw his kid's pained expression. All the Wall-E could do was force his chest to rise and fall.

"Is he gonna be okay?" Yukine's voice quivered, coming out as a breath. Hiyori squeezed her eyes shut, forcing the tears away. She took a breath in and carefully turned Yato's face towards the floor while parting his hair. Activating her scanner, the Eve stored the identity of the wires and chips. She quickly stood up and activated her rockets.

"Wait! Miss Eve!" The Wall-H went ignored, Hiyori taking off into the darkness of the ship's dump. She moved from pile to pile, shuffling through months of rotting trash. Her scanners alerted her of any electrical wires, cranes, spare parts, computer hard drives. Hiyori collected anything that resembles Yato's unique make-up. Anything that could work.

By the ejection door, the Wall-Hs wrapped Yukine in one of their extra pieces of fabric, another was laid over Yato. The man with the chipped glasses, the head of the section, had commanded the others to do a thorough check of the area, just in case there were other workers that were lost. He then gave Yukine a dented can of hot water, one that went ignored. Instead the Mo was gently wiping Yato's face, working though the packet of baby-wipes he had tucked in his uniform. Already there was a pile beside Yato's head, the white cloths died dark red and brown.

"Mmm that feels nice," Yato slurred. Yukine gave a half-hearted scoff.

"I bet. This is probably the closest you've ever had to a shower." Yukine winced as his cleaning made the bruises more prominent. Once his face and neck was wiped down, Yukine moved to Yato's hands. The mechanical circling of the cloth turned to short rubs, then to nothing at all.

"What's wrong," Yato took a breath like a gasp, "Kiddo?" Yukine didn't look up from his daze, Yato's calloused hands tanner than his smooth ones.

"What is it like? Earth?" Yukine asked quietly. Yato didn't answer right away and Yukine worried that the Wall-E had passed out again.

"It's nothing like here," Yato took a deep breath in, "There's still lots of cleaning to do, but it has the most amazing things hidden. There are no more living things- I think- but the mountains and volcanoes are still there. All the art and statues, the movies and music. Humanity really." He murmured, his voice growing weaker the more he talked and heaved oxygen. Yukine apologized and only got a wheezing cough in return.

"'Humanity', huh?" Yukine repeated. He looked down at his uniform, one the first things he remembers receiving after waking up, recalling not a damn thing. Yukine paused and took it all in. The thought of what Earth could be, his role here, Suzuha, his new name. He squeezed the wet-wipe tight.

"Yato!" Hiyori's boots scattered the dirt and dust around the floor as she landed hastily next to them, cradling her helmet over flowing with wires and chips. She knelt down by Yato's head and Yukine scrambled around to help Yato into somewhat of a sitting position, letting the Wall-E lean heavily against him.

"Is this it?" Hiyori held up a misshapen one, one that Yato shook his head at, "What about this? This? How about this one?" Hiyori grit her teeth, turning her helmet over and dumping out its contents. She and Yukine spread them out before Yato so that he can look them over. Other Wall-Hs came with what they've found. None of them even came close. They didn't have the necessary wiring for a cyborg, and when they did, they weren't meant to fit in the Wall-Es old fashioned design. And now that Hiyori thought of it, they would need a highly trained specialist that could surgically remove the plate and reattach a new one to his antique system, all while keeping him alive.

When Hiyori voiced as much the room grew quiet, Yato's wheezing covering Yukine's sniffles and Hiyori's choked sobs. Yato looked at his love sadly. One of his eyes had trouble focusing, the other interpreted color oddly, but she still looked beautiful. He hated making her this sad. It's a good thing he had something that could cheer her up. He belonged in the trash heap anyway.

"Hiyori," Yato said, "I have-" he broke off into a cough. Hiyori seemed to understand, perking up and crawling towards him.

"You have?" Hiyori wiped some tears away. At his side, Yukine jostled him.

"You idiot! Why didn't you say something sooner!" Yukine smiled wide despite himself. Yato tried shaking his head but got dizzy, his hand shakily went over his shoulder and gripped his compactor. Slowly, one at a time, Yato's latches opened up and allowed the compactor to slide off his back. Hiyori helped Yato drag it around. The cube opened, allowing it's contents to come tumbling out.

The room froze, confusion knitting the features of the Wall-Hs while Hiyori and Yukine sat with stunned expressions. The glass bottle clicked against the pavement, spinning to a landing right in front of Hiyori. The Eve slowly looked down, face frozen. Her trembling fingers reached for the smooth container, wrapping loosely around it and lifting the plant into her lap.

"Yato, What is- I don't." Hiyori whispered, thumb rubbing over the glass.

"P-plant," Yato wheezed, "Directive." his mouth wobbled into a crooked smile. Hiyori looked up at him with wide, misty eyes. He held her gaze as best he could, hair covering the eye that stopped working, smile drooping just a bit. But to her, he just looked defeated. His bright, sunny demeanor and eyes so full life, looked shadowed and muted. His wearalls were bunched in Yukine's tight fist. The Mo subconsciously squeezing Yato tighter.

"Who cares about that now!" Yukine shouted, "Earth isn't what's important now!" He steadied Yato after the Wall-E flinched from the volume. Yato swayed a little, head lulling back.

"Earth..." Yato slurred. Hiyori looked sadly at Yukine, who was trembling and gnawing at his lip.

"Earth?" Hiyori repeated. Her eyes fell down to the organism in her lamp, then back up at Yato. Focusing on the round plastic speaker imbedded in his chin, once again cracked. He would need a replacement.

"Earth!" Hiyori exclaimed, coming off the ground to her knees. She kept repeating the world like it was her lifeline. She shouted it at confused Yukine and again at the bewildered Wall-Hs. The Eve crawled to Yato with a face of pure joy. Slowly pulling his head back up, Yato fixed her with a smirk. Yukine, smart as he is, caught on.

"All of Yato's stuff is on Earth!" Yukine perked up for a moment before he deflated, "But, that jerk Auto is the one who drives the ship."

"But! But!" Hiyori scooted even more forward, "The ship's programming should override his control. All we have to do is place this in the Halo-detector and the ship will take us back!"

"We have to get back to the captain!" Yukine affirmed.

"You're not going anywhere near the captain!" A voice boomed in the enormous room, powerful and strong. Heels clicked against the pavement followed by the footfalls of more soldiers. The Wall-Hs stepped back with their hands in front of them, leaving the trio under a spot light in the middle of the floor.

Hiyori stood up, one hand out behind her, the other cradling the plant. She moved to block the view of the boy and the broken cyborg, narrowing her eyes as Bishamon stepped into the light. followed by a line of Secur-T.


	13. Chapter 13

Yato's system hissed in warning, sensing his adrenaline rush and advising against it. He ignored it, grunting as he tried to haul himself to his feet, leaning heavily on his kid. Yukine kept himself in front of Yato, his body barely blocking the torso. Yato squeezed Yukine's shoulder, trying to look around Hiyori at the threat. The other Wall-Hs had scurried behind piles, trying and failing to look as though they've been working the whole time. Only the long haired man with glasses stayed by them, asking the Lieutenant General what the meaning of her visit was.

"Please Lieutenant General Bishamon," Hiyori begged, "I have the plant! It's my duty to bring this to the captain!"

"Yato didn't do anything wrong!" Yukine shouted at her. Bishamon regarded the two through narrowed eyes. The amethyst irises then rested on the Wall-E. She coldly took in his battered form, eyes meeting his with equal hostility. Behind her Kazuma stepped up, his glasses pulling up all the information it could.

"Bishamon, this is the one we we're looking for. He's gravely injured both organically and technically. If we wanted to take him in, now would be the best time." Kazuma's message to her systems read.

"Are we sure that's the plant?" Bishamon sent back. Kazuma's eyes darted across his bifocals, then he nodded.

"So this is what the General meant when he said he 'took care of it'" Kazuma grimaced, clearly able to see all the damage under the tattered wearalls. Bishamon hummed in response. She knew the head of her and her men was strong. Strong enough to stand above them all and beside the captain. But this seemed too much, it passed self defense against a cleaner who traveled with an Eve and a Mo. It seemed this Wall-E was a formidable foe, to be able to cause such damage to the Auto. But, still, nothing the Secur-T and their numbers couldn't handle. There really was no reason for the Co-pilot's involvement. Not only that, but why try to get rid of the plant?

"Why did you attack our co-pilot?" Bishamon addressed Hiyori.

"We didn't! He attacked us!" Hiyori stepped forward, "Please Lieutenant General, the Co-pilot doesn't want us to return to Earth, he's trying to silence us! Yato is not a danger, he's just trying to help me complete my mission!" The Eve held out the plant for everyone to see. The dirty brown glass caught the light and the leaves were shown to be a bit brown at the tips.

"Why would the General try to silence you?" Kazuma asked. Hiyori faltered, looking over her shoulder at the two boys. Yato let out a shuttering breath, then nodded to her in encouragement, eyes hard. His blood still dripped into a small puddle on the floor. Hiyori brought the plant closer to her, just above her heart.

"Because the order was given by a man, centuries ago, to make sure the humans never returned to Earth. We think, w-we think," Hiyori's shoulders curled inward, "We think he was also the one who activated the virus that caused the Wall-Es to slaughter each other." Hiyori said. All eyes went to Yato, his eyes covered by his bangs as his head hung low. From under his arm, Yukine's legs began to shake from the effort of holding up Yato's weight, but he remained strong.

"But Yato doesn't have the virus! If he did he wouldn't have survived this long!" Yukine proclaimed. Bishamon didn't look convinced, scowling in contempt at Yato.

"Or it simply means he was the one to come out on top," She hissed. Hiyori and Yukine flinched, not knowing enough about their companion to refute. Yato's heart went out to them feeling as guilty as it has been for a long time. He finally had the opportunity to do something right, something worthwhile and not futile.

Yato knew about the virus. He knew it was his father that wrote the code and oversaw the production of the first line of cyborgs. Knew how much his father hated the destruction mankind had caused such a beautiful planet. He also knew his father was brilliant and meticulous, there was no way the Wall-Es would have such a drastic malfunction without it being deliberate.

Yato knew about the virus, but not before it was too late. He didn't figure this all out until one of his co-workers snapped and went on a war path. It started to happen every so often, then it seemed to happen more and more frequently. First one, then three, then five, then twelve. Wall-Es living in fear and suspicion of each other, knowing that one can start swinging while the other was turned. It became survival at all cost while fearing for your own sanity. And once Yato put the pieces together, after weeks of denial while scrubbing blood off his hands, he resigned himself to this fate. After all, his father created all the Wall-Es based off of Yato's blueprints, homicidal coding and all. His son, his prototype.

And as a prototype, he was no exception. Yato had snapped, pushed over the edge by the adrenaline of killing a hoard of his fellow Wall-Es in a frantic effort to protect the woman named Sakura. When bodies laid at his feet and crimson stained his clothes, he heaved in a breath and passed out. At least he thought he passed out, but instead of his vision fading to black, it fated to red. His warning system flared up without any text letting him know why. It was like watching a movie thorough a scarlet tint, his body moving on it's own without any feeling. He swung wildly at the bricks and dirt that formed the alley they were in, howling in pain and pleasure at the top of his lungs in a voice that wasn't his. Behind him a he heard a scream.

He remembers having whipped around in slow motion, blue irises surrounded with dark grey scleroses focusing on a woman on the ground. She cried in fear and heartbreak, reaching a hand towards him. Her body temperature glitched into colors of greens and yellows, obscuring the world's beautiful red color he wanted to see. He tries not remember what he did after that, having wandered around with red vision for a long time, longer than any other infected cyborg had. But that might have been because of his prior training in fighting that those who opposed him didn't have. That or his odd sense of survival that seemed to run in the family. He had a reputation to uphold after all.

But then, one day, something kicked in. A flash of white text cut across his movie screen and said 'LifeLine Activated', then he could suddenly control his bloodstained fingers. His vision had cleared and his body was once again his to control, finally allowing him to fall to his knees and sob. It left him to hang on to the last words his one and only friend had spoken, forgiveness directed at him. The others that remained feared him after that, keeping their distance as he desperately tried to contact the man who created him only to come up empty. Desperately tried to isolate whatever was in his system that worked as an anti-virus, so he could save what little life was left on the massive planet. But the Wall-Es attacked each other, falling one by one, till he was the only one left, a fixed but broken machine.

"My name is Yaboku Kotonoha, son of the famous Dr. Kotonoha, who is known as 'The Father of Cyborgs' or simply as 'The Crafter'. I am a Waste Allocation Load Lifter: Earth class; ID 001-Prototype. The virus was over-rided by a code done by my father. I can assure you I'm no longer a threat. He is the man that gave the order A1-13 to the Auto, assuring humanity never returns to Earth. The Auto is the threat, to both Earth and the people, including the captain." Yato informed the room. By the end of his speech, Yato had became out of breath. He tried to stand strong, but the lack of oxygen in his battered lungs was making him light headed. Good thing Yukine was still right by his side, supporting him.

Bishamon's eyes narrowed as she repeated the last of the Wall-E's words, but her glare was shifted to Hiyori who repeated her plea to finish her task. Bishamon regarded the room in thoughtfulness. The situation was starting to make sense but she still didn't know what to make of it. She looked to her Major General for advice.

"If he was made by The Crafter than that means he was trained by the same man as our co-pilot. That could explain how he was able to stand up to him and the other Wall-Es. If it got out that the second in command of Heaven's Sun was created and raised the same as a Wall-E then," Kazuma's sentence trickled off. It was just speculation, but at the very least the Wall-E's name and ID aligned with Kazuma's records, this made his story plausible. (Even if it did say he was deceased). Bishamon knew as much.

"Well regardless, that doesn't explain the A1-13 protocol." Bishamon said. But, she looked to the plant in the Eve's hand. The human Eve of a wealthy, noble family of doctors. She had no reason for deception and was simply following her purpose. And Bishmon's purpose was to protect the lives and happiness of the humans of this ship. The Lieutenant General spun around to face her line of most loyal troops, arms behind her back, feet in line with her shoulders.

"Listen up," her voice boomed, "we need to do everything in our power to get this plant to the ship's mainframe without the knowledge of our General." The Secur-T gasped, questioning their leader's betrayal.

"It has always been our mission to keep the population safe until our return to Earth. I don't obey this 'Crafter' I obey the captain of Heaven's Sun who's under threat by his co-captain. We must save the ship!" Bishamon declared. The line of Secur-Ts let our a cheer, saluting her and promising to follow her to the end. She nodded at them with a determined smile, then looked to the two Secur-Ts that had accompanied the Go-4 when Yato first arrived.

"Kuruha, Kinuha, Kazuma and I will find the captain, you two will then guard him. Get his side of the story as well." Bishamon commanded them. The two nodded and broke from the line.

"Wait!" Hiyori stepped closer to Bishamon, "Watch out for the Go-4 too. He's on Kouto's side!" Hiyori told them, to the groups surprise. Bishamon's eyes widened, her mouth falling open.

"Kuguha is-" she shook the betrayal off her face, turning back to the two, "You heard the Eve, be on the look out, but don't cause a scene."

Kuruha and Kinuha nodded, making their way to the elevator. The rest were ordered to be on stand by around the pool, and to be ready for crowd control when the time comes. Tsuguha and Akiha in the lead. They were to act like they didn't know a thing.

"Ill call a doctor for the Wall-E" Kazuma said.

"Yato's fine." Yato wheezed out a smile, which Kazuma returned with a nod.

"Is there anyway you can call Dr. Masomi Iki? I know he's not good with tech but." Hiyori asked the Major General. Kazuma gave her a smile too.

"I'm pretty good with tech myself. Consider it done," he reassured.

"That's all well and good but we don't have time for that," Yato hissed and forced himself to stand, "None of you know Kouto like I do. You need me with you."

"Don't be stubborn!" Yukine scolded.

"Either way, we need to get going," Bishamon turned towards the elevator, "Have the doctor meet us off of the pool deck, somewhere there are no cameras."

"None of the cleaner's closets have cameras," Yukine piped up, "He'll be safe there." The Mo shifted the extra weight. Yato looked at him, but spoke to Bishamon.

"The kid stays with me." Yato said, he then looked to Hiyori, who moved towards the Secur-T. Nodding at her determined expression with acceptance. His eyes not any less pleading.

Kazuma made his way next to the Wall-E, ducking under his handle and supporting the other side. Yato grunted and adjusted to the new position. Once they were ready, Kazuma nodded to his lady.

"I've stalled the security camera in the elevator, hopefully he won't suspect a thing."

The group made their way to the elevator, doors shutting behind them. The head Wall-H waved to them in a lazy fashion, the glare over his glasses making his expression unreadable. Bishamon clicked the button to the main deck and they were off. Hiyori and Yukine filled the two Secur-T in on the underlying darkness of the ship. During their explanation, Hiyori kept looking back at Yato out of worry and guilt. His eyes stared at the floor, glassy and tired.

"Kazuma?" Bishamon looked at her Major General. Kazuma looked past his glasses, his expression not promising.

"I can't find any record of the Auto's blueprints. Only the captain would know it," Kazuma looked at Yato, "And the last thing I want to do is try downloading anything from him in this state." The Secut-T flinched at Yato's glare, cold and threatening.

"Wise choice," Yato agreed.

"Well at any rate, we need the captain to open the hallow detector for us so Eve can put the plant in," Bishamon clenched her fists, "That's going to be tricky with the General of the Army blocking the way."

"Hang on! He doesn't know your not on his side, right?" Yukine piped up. He shrunk a bit when the Secur-T whipped around to look at him in surprise. The Mo blushed under the quiet stares.

"You make a good point," Kazuma said with a smile.

"Agreed." Bishamon looked at Yukine again then turned back to face the door. Subtly, Yato patted his kid's back as best he could.

"Bishamon, I think I should go with you." Hiyori turned towards the woman with a hard look that left no room for argument. The Secur-T didn't look too pleased.

"No."

"But Lieutenant General-"

"He doesn't know we are against him. If you go with us, he'll know somethings up," She turned to the boys behind them, "You three stay on the deck till we return. While Kazuma comes with me, I'll call for reinforcement if I need too. We will open the Holo-Detector." Bishamon said, glaring through his reluctant expression.

"Understood," Kazuma affirmed. The elevator slowed to a smooth and easy stop, doors opening up. Noise. Shouting and scuffling filled the workers' hallway. Chaos. Just before Bishamon could step out, a wolfish-looking Secur-T stepped into view.

"Lieutenant General Bishamon, I need you all to come with me. General's orders."


	14. Chapter 14

"Captain? Captain, please open up the door." Kuoto knocked on Tenjin's door, leaning close to the slate of metal. The Auto was met with stubborn silence. He double checked the captain's whereabouts, his x-ray heat vision confirming Tenjin was toying with his computer. The captain's heart beat had calmed down a bit from before, but still pounded.

"Pity," Kouto smiled, "The excitement didn't finish the old coup off." The co-captain looked over his shoulder at the sound of the elevator rising to the chamber. His taser at the ready, he turned to face the doors with a smile on his face, holding the weapon behind his back.

"Edachi, do you mind getting that for me?" Kuoto addressed the Go-4 with the lifeless eyes. The man swayed to his feet, robotically walking to the elevator and plugging in the code to unlock the elevator. The doors slid open to reveal Bishamon and Kazuma, faces trained in stoic professionalism.

"Kugaha?" Kazuma narrowed his eyes at the Go-4 who did not respond in any way. Bishamon pressed her lips in a firm line and pushed past the man she gave a name too. Her Co-captian's half torn face made bile climb to her throat, but she didn't let it show. Bishamon met Kouto's eyes head on.

"Sir, where is the captain? Is he safe?" she asked.

"Yes, that Wall-E snapped and attacked him out of no where! I managed to hold him off but the captain is unconscious. I had Go-4 lock him in his chamber to safety recover." Kuoto explained, his face one of distress. Bishamon blinked at him, furry bubbling up from under her skin. She never wanted to beat someone so badly in her life. Bishamon instead walked to Tenjin's door, raising her hand to knock, only for her wrist to be grabbed. Behind her, Kugaha stepped towards them, Kazuma remained rooted by the door.

"Lieutenant General Bishamon," Kuoto's smile remained stiff, "I can take care of our beloved captain, I think you should join your troops in their effort to find the stowaways."

"There's no need for worry," Kazuma stepped forward, "We've captured the rebels and have all of their possessions in custody."

"Excellent work Secur-T. I can take it from here, where are the captives being held?" Kouto tossed Bishamon's wrist out of his hand and fixed his cuffs. Bishamon stood to face him, forcing her body into a more obedient stance.

"I'd be happy to take you to them sir, they need to be dealt with swiftly and their punishment just." Bishamon thought back to the Wall-E with blood stained hands and how he always managed to give her the slip. That bastard.

Something in her expression must have gave her thoughts away because Kuoto's one eye widened before he let out a slight laugh.

"Gave you a run for your money, did he? Don't let it get to you, he is more formidable than he looks." The Auto made his way towards the elevator, preparing to dismantle the one that got away.

"Yes, of course," Bishamon stepped to the side and followed him to the exit, "Kazuma, please ensure the captain is alright." she ordered. At this, Kouto stopped short. His feet just barely in the door.

"Go-4, remain here with him."

"Sir that isn't-"

"Lets go, Lieutenant." Kuoto turned and faced the door, his naked red eye flashing. Bishamon curled her fist and stepped in beside her superior, facing the door as it slid shut. Her eyes met Kazuma's, like a purple fire hitting turquoise water. He nodded to her once, then the heavy metal doors closed.

"I'm surprised Bishamon, coming here with only one Secur-T," his voice was level, not accusing at all. Bishamon thought of the two unconscious soldiers stuffed into a cleaning closet and cleared her throat. She signaled to Tsuguha and Akiha waiting at the bottom of the elevator.

"Yes, well, when they asked me to report to the captain's chambers I knew it was an emergency and felt it necessary to come right away. Not wanting to cause a scene, I left the rest to look after the traitors or attend to their daily duties. After all, we can't let the public notice anything's amiss. Their happiness is our top priority after all." Bishamon replied easily. Kuoto began to laugh at this. Getting louder and louder until it cut off so suddenly she thought he choked.

It was her. Bishamon's breath caught in her throat when she suddenly had a taser stuck to the side of her skull. Kuoto's good eye looked at her happily, while the glowing red orb embedded in under the ripped skin pierced her like a laser.

"I agree. Our passenger's happiness must be protected at all costs, and there's no way that can happen on a plant like Earth. They belong here, on Heaven's Sun, blindly following my every word. And if their happiness costs me a Secur-T or two," he smiled placidly, "than it's a decision I'm happy to make." The Auto twitched his finger and Bishamon let out a shout.

The sound of a body hitting the hard metal of the elevator floor shook the tube and resonated up towards the captains chamber. From his spot by the bookshelf, Kazuma flinched. He looked back towards the door, stretching his senses as far as he could but the elevator was too far down.

Kazuma shut the manual he was holding and put it back on the shelf with a sigh. He scanned the rows of books one last time, not a single one of them the unsaturated red of the plant manual that the Eve described. Kazuma looked over his shoulder, Kuguha staring unblinking, back at him. The once vocal man who would deliver resources to the Secur-T, now silent. Kazuma would have thought he was a wax statue had it not been for him following at least five steps behind. Kazuma took some air though his nose. He wasn't one for taking gambles, only calculated risks.

"Can you remind me again," Kazuma faced the Go-4 with a smile, "What's your name?" The Go-4 was unfazed.

"I obey the Co-pilot of this ship and respond to the name he gave me. Edachi." Edachi stated. Kazuma went stiff for a moment, anger boiling in his stomach, heart going out to his kind superior.

"You cast aside the name Bishamon gave you?" Kazuma narrowed his eyes at the stoic silence he received. His memory drive must have been wiped, his scanners couldn't bring up any internal data. There was something else. There were no updates from Bishamon on her well-being. Kazuma's eyes slid to the captain's bedroom, not a sign of life since the Auto and Bishamon left. Worry stretched across his chest and tugged his eyes once again to the elevator. He was a Secur-T built to serve and protect the humans of the ship. Especially the captain, who Bishamon entrusted to him.

Kazuma walked forward with his shoulders squared, not sparing a glance at Edachi. His footsteps echoed as he made his way to the door. Just as Kazuma's fingertips brushed the elevator's control pad, his wrist was grabbed. Kazuma look at his wrist, than at Edachi, eyes narrowing into hostility.

"Please forgive my rudeness, but I am under direct orders not to let you leave," Edachi said. Kazuma flicked his wrist and an elegant sword slid out of his sleeve. He swung at Edachi who leaned back just in time for the tip of the sheath to whizz by his nose.

Kazuma rolled his wrist out of Edachi's grip and moved to unsheathe his sword. It was an elegant, glowing green katakana with intricate dark green lines with small circles on the end. He signaled to these techno-stems to pulse electricity throughout the metal. The Go-4 produced a long taser, similar to the co-captain's. The two cyborgs stared at each other with narrowed eyes for a moment, then charged forward at inhuman speed. When they met, an explosion was heard.

Down stairs, once again tucked behind the towel shelves of the pool, a Wall-E was hidden with an Eve and a Mo at his side. This time, a completely and totally human man knelt beside Yato, and was working to stitch up his human skin.

"Again, Dr. Masaomi sir, I didn't know you were Hiyori's older brother, I am so sorry I thought you were trying to capture us and tried to hit you with my compactor. And about busting in your office and shooting up the place." Yato hissed as the needle weaved in and out of his tough skin. Masaomi just laughed, tugging the strings tight as Hiyori shushed him.

"That's alright. It was exciting! To think we're going to overthrow the government!" Masaomi gushed.

"Masaomi! We are not overthrowing the government!" Hiyori chided.

"Right," the doctor snapped and pointed at her, "mutiny." he said with a grin.

"Can we hurry it up please?" Yukine whispered urgently. He kept looking back at them from his spot at the edge of the shelves.

"How's it look, Yukine?" Hiyori asked. The Mo peaked out again.

"It looks like no one saw us. There have been cyborgs from the hospital escape that have passed by, but they had Secur-T bringing them into custody." Yukine said.

"What about Bishamon and Kazuma?"

"Nothing yet." Yukine crawled back and sat at Yato's head, frowning at his worsening wheezing.

"All done," Masaomi sat up with a happy sigh, "I did everything I could at skin level, so at least you don't have to worry about infection. If you even get that sort of thing. But we still need to wait for the Major General to deal with the tech stuff." Masaomi said as he wiped his hands and tools clean of blood. Yukine helped Yato into a sitting postion, both Masamoi and Hiyori stood.

"Masamoi, you need to go back to the hospital. I'm going up to help the Lueitentent General ." Hiyori said, clicking her gun snugly around her wrist.

"But! Bishamon said you needed to stay here!" Yukine urgetntly reminded. Masaomi put a hand on his little sister's shouler, the lightwieght flexible armor warm under his touch,

"He's right, leave this to the professionsonals."

"I am the professional. It is my sworn duty to get this plant into the Halo-detector and bring humanity home." Hiyori spoke with conviction. Her brother paused, mouth open slightly as his hand raised from her shoulder. Then, Masamoi smiled, and nodded to her. HIyori nodded back with a more nervous expression. She took a couple steps away before looking down at Yato. At first he seemed to be glaring at her, but he gave her a painful smile. Her heart didn't want to leave him, but if he was going to be strong for her, she could do the same. Hiyori smiled back at him, bringing some color back into his cheeks, then squared her shoulders and walked off.

Hiyori didn't even make it two steps away from their hiding spot when an explosion rocked the floor. It came from the hallway leading to the Captain's Chamber. Without a thought, Hiyori dashed towards the back of the ship. Her engine boots hitting the hard floor before scrambling to a take off. She gasped as she saw the glass of the lobby doors shattered across the floor. Bishamon laid in the middle of the lobby, Kiun on the floor beside her while Take stood between them and the co-pilot. Tsuguha and Akiha stood off to the side, Akiha welding a light blue dagger while Tsuguha crouched behind her a grey shield.

Hiyori screeched to a stop, landing unsteadily on her feet behind Bishamon. Kuoto stood blocking the elevator, which was completely wrecked. Scratches and dents lined the inside, while the doors looked like a cannon shot through them. Kuoto stepped on the pieces of metal flattening them. He hummed as his tongue licked the stream of blood that dripped from his head. His once pristine uniform was now stained and torn; something hard for even cyborgs to do to that type of fiber. Bishamon didn't look much better, the skin of her stomach looked singed and bloody.

"Ah Miss Iki, so glad you can join us. Here to avenge your boyfriend? I'll get to you in just a minute, there's someone ahead of you." Kuoto said with a smile. His arm shifted at his side and Hiyori saw he wore a gun similar to her own. The white and black metal engulfed his fore arm, stretching out into a thin nozzle. Hiyori quickly turned her pistol on him, teeth bared. In front of her, Bishamon shouted her name, and stood with a massive purple sword. When she raised it, the dark purple flame pattern began to glow.

"Now now that's not fair," Kuoto raised his hands in a huff, "Six against one? Where are your manners?" The interior of his rifle began whirl, a ball of red light gathering at its tip. He then swung it to point at Tsuguha. The young Secur-T flinched, but gripped her shield tight.

"What are you doing, sir?" Take asked in alarm.

"Tsuguha don't!" Bishamon shouted.

"It's alright Lieutenant General! I have confidence in being your shield!" Tsuguha shouted back with a forced smile. Bishamon struggled to roll on her stomach.

"No Tsuguha! You don't understand the weapon of an Auto Pilot," Bishamon stretched an arm out in desperation. The gun in Hiyori's hand began to tremble. Kuoto was in her line of vision, nothing blocking her shot. His gun was pointed elsewhere. His focus wasn't even on her. She could shot him right now and end all this.

"Now then, lets level the playing field a little bit," Kuoto said. The air hissed and whined as the ball got bigger and brighter, before firing so fast it appeared to be a spear of light. Tsuguha's shield glowed a hot orange, the molten metal a gaping hole that matched the hole in the wall behind her, and the red one in the girl's torso.

"Tsuguha!" Bishamon cried. Tsuguha's shield clattered to the ground as the cyborg's lifeless body fell to the side. Blood quickly soaked her uniform and puddled on the floor as the open wires that laced her insides sparked uselessly.

The room went silent as Kuoto let out a slow breath and waved the tip of his gun to cool it. He then looked back at Bishamon, who's hand dropped into a fist at her side.

"Hiyori," Bishamon growled low.

"Y-yes?"

"Go help Kazuma with the captain. Get him to turn on the Hallo-Detector," Bishamon commanded in a low yet powerful tone, "Akiha, follow her."

"Okay," Hiyori forced out. This was not her job. As much as she wanted to help, she would just get in the way. As an Eve, the plant needed to get to the captain. But there was no way she could make it past Kuoto. Hiyori fired on her boots and took off back out the door.

"Leaving so soon? That's not very polite," Kuoto pointed his rifle at Hiyori, "Someone should really teach you man-" he whipped his gun in front of his body just in time for Bishamon to slam her sword into it. His smile was wiped away by the sheer furosity in her expression, her mouth was pulled back to show bared teeth and her eyes cackled with intensity.

"Your opponent is me!" she howled, pushing harder against him. Kuoto narrowed his eyes with a grunt as he felt himself leaning back. She no longer cared about her own well-being, and that suited him just fine.

Hiyori could hear the Luteient General's battle cry from half way up the tower. She shook her head to focus and willed her boots to go higher. The glass still had a hole in it from Yato's fight. Hiyori went towards it, hovering so that her eyes could just peak over the ledge.

Kazuma was heaving breaths from his spot indented in the far wall. Edachi was leaning heavily against the control panel, his blood-soaked poncho torn on one side to reveal his missing hand. Kazuma pushed himself out of the wall and landed unsteadily on his feet. His body swayed as he squared his shoulders and put his hands up. The Go-4 did the same, taser held out between them.

In a flash they were at it again, Kazuma's speed and skill as a Secur-T giving him the upper hand, but what Edachi lacked in training, he made up with desperate ferocity and the raw power of electricity. Hiyori crawled in through the window, landing stealthily on the ground like a Wall-E trying to surprise an Eve.

"Kazuma!" Hiyori got their attention, her gun trained on the Go-4. Without looking down she kicked Kazuma his sword, firing at Edachi when he lunged to grab it. Kazuma scooped it up with practiced ease as Edachi landed howling in pain on the ground, the skin of his ankle burned off. Kazuma set up to face him, but Hiyori stepped forward. Akiha came barreling in across the room from the elevator. When he saw his Major with his sword pointed, his knife came out and he faced the Go-4 without another word.

"Kazuma get the captain! You're the only one who can hack the screen-lock." Hiyori narrowed her eyes as the Go-4 rose to stand. Kazuma looked between them, unsure if an Eve could handle this maniac. If he got in close quarters she was done for, Akiha would be too far away to reach her in time. For some reason, the image of a Wall-E's sharp eyes flashed across his mind and a chill went down his spine.

"Miss Iki, I dont think-"

"That won't be necessary, Eve." A voice cut off the Secur-T. Everyone turned to see the captain's door open and Tenjin sitting with his remote control in his hand.

"Captain!" Hiyori and Kazuma shouted together. The feelings of relief were drowned out when Edachi let out and inhuman roar and raced full throttle at the captain.

"Watch out!" Kazuma tried to tackled him. Hiyori shot at his feet, missing as Edachi swerved and jumped just like his superior had.

"Captian!" Hiyori cried. But Tenjin remained calm, pointing what looked like a television remote at his attacker. With one tap of a button, the Go-4 thudded to the ground, not another sound coming out of him.

"The next time I turn you off," Tenjin said to the limp body, "I expect you to stay that way." Hiyori ran to her captain, gun still pointed at the cyborg on the floor. Kazuma followed, taking the opportunity to cuff Edachi.

"Captain, what was that?" Hiyori asked. Tenjin showed her his bedroom television remote.

"Is everyone ok?" Akiha ran over, holding the Go-4's collar by the orders of the Major General.

"I spent the time in my room modifying it to activate the force shut down on the workers of this ship," he explained. Hiyori was impressed but the thought terrified her.

"This means we can shut down the Auto!" Hiyori said, a weight lifting off her chest.

"No, the Auto was not created on this ship. That type of function has to manual," Tenjin sighed, "Which means we have to get him to willingly let us."

"Or it means we'll have to force him," Kazuma stated, sheathing his sword. Hiyori looked at the kind Secur-T with shock, while the captain just wore a hard expression.

"Captain," Kazuma took a step towards them, "You're the only one who can. You're the only one who knows his blue-prints." Hiyori looked over at Tenjin, his face grave with a scowl.

"Yes, I understand. But I want him up here, away from the passengers." Tenjin insisted. Kazuma nodded in agreement. He rather that psycho away from Bishamon.

"We also have to open the Hallo-Detector! Yato and Yukine are guarding the plant right next to the pool deck!" Hiyori reminded them. Tenjin looked at her with a determined expression.

"That I can do," a thought came to him, "Eve, I'll need you to bring up your security camera. Major General, start up an official announcement to every tv, advertisement, and personal screen on this ship. Secur-T, you are to take that traitor to the jail cell and guard him with at least one other guard that you can trust." The last words were deep with importance.

"Yes sir!" The three saluted. Tenjin hovered forward towards the glowing green button. It's casing was cracked from the fight but it flashed with just as much urgency as the first time. Tenjin flipped the lid and pushed it down, causing the entire ship to turn green.


	15. Chapter 15

Kofuku was in her bathroom, round face being done with cute but simple make up, when it happened. She had smiled back herself in the mirror while a Pr-T dressed in a white and pink baggy uniform finished curling the back of her hair. She was young, a girl with short blonde pigtails, and often worked with the captain. Kofuku loved talking with her, chattering on and on about her date with Daikoku later that evening. Then, the LED lighting of her bathroom turned green and the cyborg working on her dropped the curler.

"What's happening?" Kofuku panicked as her chair suddenly jerked backwards and a plastic dome came over her head. The Pr-T raced forward, walking fast along the chair as it brought Kofuku out of the room despite her best efforts to control it.

"The captain has called everyone to the pool deck for a major announcement! You'll be fine Miss Kofuku!" The girl called out with a frantic wave. Kofuku yelped as she was shoved into the hallway traffic. People who lived next door to her but who she had never seen before in her life, all talking among themselves in panic. The yellow plastic ring that circled their necks making it hard to see.

Kofuku gasped as she entered the center of the ship and saw the whole thing tinted green. The multitude of advertisements were replaced with the leaf symbol Kofuku had only seen in school. At the bottom of the screen, yellow arrows flashed pointing towards the same direction. Every single ship occupant was here, the highway devoid of all cyborgs and transports to make the seven-lane highway clear for everyone. Each of them moving in the same direction, plastic helmets on their heads.

"Kofuku!" A voice shouted at her.

"Daikoku!" Kofuku tried reaching out to Diakoku in the lane next to her. They both grunted, reaching out their hands to connect across the isle.

"What's going on?" Kofuku shouted. As they got closer to the center of the ship, the noise level rose.

"I don't know," Diakoku narrowed his eyes, "But I bet it's got something to do with that Wall-E." They finally arrived to a stop in the middle of where the pool once was. Kofuku gasped as the once decorated entertainment center, was now closed off. The floor was as solid as the rest of the ship, the only lights being that of the green advertisements and LEDs.

"Kofuku, look at that." Daikoku nodded his head to the right. Kofuku's eyes followed to see two rows of Secur-T blocking the hallway to the captain's chamber.

"You think Yatty and Hiyorin got in trouble somehow?" She looked pleadingly at Daikoku who looked back with a stricken expression.

"I don't know," he squeezed their hands, "I don't know but lets keep a look out for them." The very center of the pool projected a four-sided television with the captain in the center, flanked by the Major General of the Secur-T and a familiar Eve.

"Hiyori!" Kofuku and Daikoku cheered.

Bishamon had been fighting with never-ending spirit when the ship turned green. Once Akiha left the room, she was able to fight with a clearer conscious. Kuoto had pointed his blaster at her, teeth bared, but the ball of light went out when he suddenly pitched forward.

"What the-!" Kuoto turned with a growl, throwing off the two Typ-Es. They landed securely on their feet and slipped into their fighting position, mirror images of each other, swords pointed at the co-captain.

"What are you doing? Run!" Bishamon tried to call, but Take just scoffed.

"Don't look down on us Secur-T, we are the Captain's gatekeepers, the last line of defense before this traitor." Take pointed his blade at the Auto.

"That's right! It is our sworn duty to prevent any unauthorized existence from getting past us!" Kuin turned his sword on. Bishamon was surprised to see actual electricity crackle off it and across his arms. While her soldiers had weapons of high tech, these practically boiled with energy.

"'Unauthorized'? How dare you!" Kuoto dashed towards them, his speed matched by the two. He blocked both their attacks and fired a shot at Take's feet, sending his flying. Kuin was pushed back, but his sword caused some malfunction to the rifle. Bishamon took the opportunity to run forward. Kuoto saw this and spun, landing a hard kick on Kuin's torso and pointing his weapon at her. He fired.

The smoke cleared only to reveal that Bishamon was nowhere to be found. Kuoto frantically looked around but his eyes caught movement from above. Bishamon swooped down like a falcon. Kuoto raised his gun across his body, but Bishamon still landed a crushing blow, the ground beneath them cracking from the force. Kuoto leaned back far, teeth grinding as blood bubbled past the corner of his lips. But he did not fall.

"Now!" Bishamon shouted. From both sides, Take and Kuin rushed forward, sinking their blades into the Auto. Bishamon jumped back just in time for the electricity to surge through Kuoto's body. He hollered in pain, his body lighting up like a sun.

The two Typ-Es stopped their onslaught. For a moment, Kuoto's arms went limp, his top half swaying. His rifle slid off his hand, clattering to the ground. Take and Kuin let out a sigh.

"No! Get out of there!" Bishamon screamed. But it was too late. In a flash Kuoto's head popped up and his hands grabbed the uniform ties still wrapped around the Typ-Es' necks. He yanked and crossed his arms, their two heads colliding forward with a sickening crack. Kuoto let them fall to the ground, but not before reaching behind their heads and hitting their off switch at the nape of their necks.

Their bodies piled at his feet. He stepped over them as Bishamon shouted threats and profanities at him. She didn't run at him fast enough, his rile was back on his arm and blocked her attack. They separated again.

Bishamon blinked. She must have gotten hit hard because the world was suddenly tinted green. The monitor above the Typ-Es' desk lit up with the plant symbol as the lights along the floor began to point towards the center of the ship. Bishamon nearly cheered, but she couldn't stop the smile from growing on her face.

"What?" Kuoto whipped around to look at the screen, "No! I swear if that damn Yaboku-" After a moment, the screen changed to show Captain Tenjin, unharmed, along with two cyborgs.

"Kazuma," Bishamon breathed like a sigh. He was alright. His clothes were torn and the skin broke across the bridge of his nose just over a bruise, but he was standing tall. His eyes showed with a serious, controlled triumph, like they often did, as they seemed to look directly at her. And knowing him, he probably was.

"Please excuse the sudden disturbance passengers, but I have an important announcement to make," Tenjin turned and nodded to Hiyori. She walked off screen for a moment before returning with the plant. It looked a bit worse for the wear, it's green color more than a little faded. She held the bottom in front of her with a flat hand.

"Damnit! A1-13 cannot be ignored!" Kuoto roared. He spun and took off towards the elevator, his rifle charging up. He jumped in the elevator, spinning to fire through the ceiling. Bishamon took off after him, watching as he summersaulted and kicked off the back wall and flew up the shoot. Bishamon following.

"As you can see the plant is in my possession, and if you turn your attention to the stage you will see the Halo-Detector where the plant will be placed." Just as Tenjin described a cylinder rose from the floor in a heavenly green light. The crowd 'ooo'd and 'awe'd as the center opened up a similar pod to Hiyori's, the inside lighting a bright white with the symbol.

"Is that the signal?" Yato whispered to Yukine.

"What signal? You're just supposed to rest!" Yukine hissed back.

"We have the plant!" Yato insisted. Yukine supported him against the wall to the right. Once the ship turned green, scaring the hell out of them, the brown-haired Mo from before came to move the towels. She rolled her eyes at Yukine when he asked for her silence, only shooing them out of the way. Then, suddenly, humans began flooding in. They pressed themselves flat and tried to look as inconspicuous as possible, but everyone was too confused to notice. When they saw Hiyori on the screen, unharmed, Yato felt like his health returned to him, cheering when the Halo-Detector raised from the ground.

It quickly went away when another explosion was heard on screen.

"What's happening?" Yukine exclaimed. Like the other people in the room, they leaned forward and frantically searched the screens. The captain's head whipped around, Kazuma and Hiyori got into a fighting stance.

"Give me the plant!" Kuoto's voice commanded from off screen. Yato flinched.

"Kid, you gotta get me up there." Yato shook Yukine.

"What? No- Yato- there's no way we can get past the guards! You can't fight-!"

"No, not up there," Yato nodded his head straight, "To the Hallo-Detector. We have to get the plant in there. Quickly." Yato didn't wait, he already started forward. Together they pushed past the people shouting in alarm as the Auto-pilot tried to fire up a shot while the two cyborgs frantically tried to fight him off. Kuoto shouted for the plant, fiercely in a way Yato hasn't heard since Yato had beaten him bloody in training. It caused him to move faster, taking his arm back from Yukine so he can push people aside. The Halo-Detector was starting to come into view when the plan collapsed.

"It's not here! You liars," The passengers of the ship screamed as the captain's chair was kicked away. Tenjin gripped the control panel for dear life.

"Eve, make sure the plant gets in the Halo-Detector!" Tenjin ordered Hiyori just in time for the screen to cut to black. The volume of the ship rose significantly as the shouts of shock went to full on panic. The passengers began to struggle, flailing their arms but ultimately unable to move. Thankfully, Yato and Yukine made it though the crowd just in time. Yukine helped Yato up the stairs, the Halo-Detector looming into view.

Yato feel to his knees on the stage. The lights were starting to be too glaring and it caused his world to blur and sway. His breathing was labored and sound was fuzzy, Yukine said his name, but he was so far away. Yato just stared at the floor with wide eyes. Yukine shook Yato's shoulders, but then his head popped up.

"Hiyori!" Yukine said in alarm. The Secur-Ts that had blocked the hallway to the captain, now had whips and chains tangled around Hiyori's legs. She blasted at them but the others came to take their place. Her boots thankfully kept her off the ground but she still needed help. The Mo looked down at Yato, then back up at Hiyori. Back and forth. Her blasting was scaring the people near by.

Yukine felt sweat drip down his face and his hands shook from their grip on his guardian. His eyes frantically went back and forth again before he squeezed them shut. Yukine slowly let go of Yato, holding his hands up to make sure Yato didn't fall over. Yato stayed hunched over, but steady. Once he was sure there were no Secur-Ts or Go-4s, Yukine forced himself to his feet.

"Y-Yato, I'm gotta to go help Hiyori. Just-just stay right here and-" Yukine nodded to himself at Yato's quiet body. Telling himself everything will be just fine. He pushed through people again and movement caught his eye. Past a couple of hover chairs, someone else was pushing aside humans.

"Hey!" Yukine went to the grimy cyborg, "You're-!" The bear-like man in brown wearalls gave a huge grin.

"Wall-H at your service!" The cyborg gave a salute. Yukine couldn't help but feel relieved at seeing another kind face. Plus the man's size made it much easier to push through the crowd.

"What are you doing up here?"

"The crew and I saw the announcement on the screen, so I thought I'd come up here and help as fast as I could," he explained as they came to the edge of the deck, "And I wasn't the only one!" Yukine looked to where the Wall-H was pointing. Pure joy rose from the tip of Yukine's toes to his head and excitement surged his veins.

The escapees from the Repair Ward were already fighting off the line of way-ward Secur-T. There was less straps holding Hiyori down, but with allies below her she couldn't blast at whim. Without another thought, Yukine charged in, roller in hand. Yukine targeted a wolf-ish Secur-T. His hands shifted to the end of the handle, swinging his roller low to squarely uppercut the cyborg in the jaw. He used the momentum to dodge the man's return swipe, just as Yato described to him.

From behind, the captain's projection came back on. The Auto stood dead center, bruises and blood painting his face and skin. His coat was missing and his under shirt was torn. He breathed in gasps and his open eye socket didn't glow nearly as bright.

"I apologize for the confusion, passengers. The truth is the rouge robots are trying to start a revolt and have brainwashed our captain-"

"Oh no you don't!" Bishamon tackled Kuoto and dragged him out of view, Kazuma following close behind. There was a moment where the captain's torn apart room was all that could be seen along with the sound of scuffling, then Tenjin fell into view.

"Ignore everything my Auto has said," Tenjin gasped with a forced smile, "It seems he has caught the virus we announced earlier. Our competent Generals are here handling it." Tenjin looked to the side at Bishamon's war cry as Kazuma was flung into the background. Tenjin sat in the front of the screen and tried to slick back the stray hairs that dangled in front of his face. He took a breath and folded his hands in front of him.

Below, Hiyori finally broke free and landed next to Yukine. They gave a happy look to each other before Hiyori looked panicked again. She blasted a cyborg that tried to grab Yukine while looking around frantically.

"Where's Yato?" Hiyori shouted over the fighting. Thankfully, the captain's presence calmed most of the humans down, but the ones a couple meters away from the fighting still shouted in alarm.

"Him and the plant are by the Halo-Detector." Yukine blocked a punch and swung. Hiyori sucked in a breath, worry weighted against her as the image of Yato's current state flashed in her head.

"Go to him!" One of the Wall-H's shouted.

"Yeah! Your honey needs you!" Yato's old neighbor winked at Hiyori. The Eve rose back into the air, hovering with a conflicted expression.

"Just go! " A massage cyborg insisted as he tied up his long grey hair. His pale green eyes glowed with fighting spirit.

"We got this!" he shouted, leaping into the crowd with flying fists. Other Secur-T started pushing through the crowd too- Hiyori recognized some of them as the line that follow Bishamon- taking on their counterparts. Hiyori nodded to them and took off, swooping down to scoop up Yukine. She flew towards the slumped form of the Wall-E.

"My beloved passengers- no- my fellow humans, it is imprudent that the plant gets into the Halo-Detector. Some of our workers have been manipulated by my co-pilot, and I take full responsibility. But," Tenjin explained, "We need your help! Earth is our home! Our real home! We left it to rot and die due to our ancestors' negligence, but it's us who should take action! We are five hundred years overdue for us to take responsibility! The plant must-"

"Out of the way!" Kuoto shoved the captain harshly out of the screen. He flipped up the casing that protected the plant-button and slammed it. The plastic cracked under the force. The stage began to vibrate as the Halo-Detector slowly spun it's way back down. The vibrations shook under Yato's knees. His systems tried to turn on, to examine the noise, but there were too many failures to process. Yato's eyes opened slowly, but everything was still dark. Noise started to filter in, a ringing accompanying the muted noise.

"Passengers, our forefathers have given me the order to prevent return to Earth at all costs," Kuoto growled. The humans protested. Shouting their disagreement and waving their fists. Tenjin jumped on Kuoto's back, causing the cyborg to reel. Hiyori flew over the cheering crowd, Yukine dangling in her arms. Yato was just up ahead.

"What's he doing?" Yukine exclaimed. Hiyori willed herself to go faster at the sight of Yato staggering to his feet. His compactor clattered to the ground, the plant rolling out. He managed to kick his compactor under the Halo-Detector, its steel box preventing it from shutting.

"Yato!" Hiyori called out to him as they landed. They ran toward him. Hiyori got to him first, catching him when he spun around too fast.

"I'm good," Yato stood up, "I just needed a little nap," he gave her a smile. Hiyori smiled back, not completely letting him go. Yukine ran over to the plant, his smile becoming contagious when he pried the compactor open and got the plant out safely. Yato suddenly paled.

Hiyori looked to ask him what's wrong before she could, the world began to tilt. There was nothing on the screen, Kuoto and Tenjin must have hit the wheel somehow. Yato's weakened state couldn't stable his weight, he fell to the right, dragging Hiyori down with him. Yato curled around her, his hand holding her head against his chest, his other arm wrapping around her waist. Yukine also pitched to the side, tripping over his own feet. The plant fell out of his hand, sliding across the stage and clinking down the stairs.

"Shoot!" Yukine scrambled to his feet and took off after it.

"Yukine!" Hiyori called after him. She pushed herself up, looking down the stage to see the humans sliding out of their chairs and oxygen-masks towards the wall in a large pile. Hiyori's heart pounded and her hands shook. Her eyes frantically darted across the floor. Yukine was trying to avoid getting mulled over by a sliding human, the plant no where to be seen. She felt her eyes widen when something lightly touched the top of her hand.

The Eve looked under her, eyes meet with the clear blue of the last Wall-E. They were steady and calm. Screams filled the air and somewhere she could hear the Lieutenant General fighting for life with her partner, but for a moment there was just him. Just them floating in space. His fingers brushed against the top of her gloved hand again and not for the first time she wished she took them off. Her expression relaxed a bit. She knew was he was trying to say, but she couldn't stop herself from balling up the front of his uniform.

"Go." Yato breathed. She couldn't hear it, but she read his lips. Hiyori looked at him with misty eyes and nodded, giving him a grateful smile. She got off of Yato, flying back into the air towards after Yukine. The Mo was dangling from a stair railing, his roller extended so that Kofuku and Diakoku could grab on. Hiyori gasped as infants from the a preschool class were sliding towards the mass of bodies at an alarming rate.

"Kid!" Diakoku shouted, "Swing us towards the babies! We have to catch them!" Diakoku looked at Kofuku in pleading, her scared expression was replaced with a soft one.

"Oh Daikoku! I'd love to have kids with you!" She squealed. Yukine swung them and the two managed to catch all the kids in their arms. They assured Yukine they were fine as they slid into the pile of cheering people.

"Hiyori!" Yukine called, he pointed down to the left. Hiyori saw the brown glare off the glass bottle.

"On it!" Hiyori flew over. The ship was turned nearly forty degrees on it's side, the humans were starting to get squished. Suddenly, she heard a woman scream loud in alarm. The people started getting louder again. She stared at them, at their waving hands and pointing. Then something crashed behind her.

The train. The long two-car transport that circled the pool fell off it's tracks and was screeching across the floor. Hover chairs were tossed aside or completely run over. Pieces of their crushed metal causing sparks to spray like a fountain. It only gained speed, ready to crush the helpless humans like a box of cherry tomatoes. Hiyori flew to meet it, she hit it hard and pushed against it with all her might, boots on full throttle. Yukine jumped in next to her when it slid by, righting himself so his shoes could get some traction. They both slid closer and closer. Hiyori gasped when someone joined her on the right. The blonde-bearded Secur-T, his feet scuffing across the floor just like Yukine's, next to him another Secur-T, and another. Members of Bishamon's line coming to provide the Eve with support.

The train slowed down. The humans screamed when the cyborgs came in close, the heat of Hiyori's boots just brushing against the mass of bodies. The train was stopped by the columns that held up its tracks. Grunts and gasps escaped the group as the held the train in place for a moment longer as the space between the cars bent at an awkward angle. Once the two halves touched, the train was stalled. Everyone let out a sigh of relief, tears streaming from the weaker hearts.

"It's not over yet!" A Secur-T shouted, "Get the plant, Miss Eve. We'll handle this part!"

"Right!" Hiyori flew over the train and back to where she last saw the plant. Yukine looked to the line of cyborgs.

"I'm going too!" Yukine stated. He clambered around the transit and half ran half climbed back towards the stage. He could still see the top of the Halo-Detector. Yato must have found a way to keep it open.

Yato grunted against the force of the closing machine. Once his two friends took off, the detector tried to force itself shut. His compactor started to concave, it's old metal unable to handle the pressure. Yato had scurried over, his fingers curling under the lid as he hauled the thing back up. It screeched as the mechanism kept trying to fight against him. Somewhere behind, Yato heard the sound of something crash and the increased screams of the humans. He prayed his friends were alright just for a moment before shaking his head to focus.

Yato looked down, his compactor had a massive dent in the side, theres no way it would ever function properly again. Letting out a strangled cry, Yato turned his palms under the Halo-Detector's lid and pushed up. He kicked his compactor away, not even looking at where it skidded off to. With a grunt the Wall-E forced his body under the lid of the detector. The metal clasps of his shoulders, pressed against the bottom of the lid next to his hands. He spread his boots apart for a more solid stance.

Someone called out to Hiyori from the side lines. She looked to see the massive Wall-H, his arms waving at her. He stood with the other battle-worn cyborgs, all the rouge Secur-T each securly handcuffed and piled agaisnt the wall. One of Bishamon's Secur-T jumped up and down with the plant over her head, she tossed it to a cleaner. Before Hiyori could make it over there he let out a yell and tossed it. A Pr-T caught it and threw it only to be caught by another Secur-T who then flung it up to her. Hiyori flew down and finally wrapped her fingers around the cracked surface of the glass. She scanned it out of habit, her fingers running over the stem of the confirmed earth life. The Eve gave her fellow workers a tearful thank you, and took off towards the stage.

The Halo-Detector groaned as Yato worked to push it up. His ribs were starting to fold in on themselves, his legs shaking under the pressure. The Halo-Detector pushed back down with seemingly more force, causing Yato to sink to his knees. Sweat continued pouring down his face and neck and his breathes came out in short wheezes. His vision was started to get spotty again from the lack of oxygen. The machine pushed him back down, Yato dropped a knee under it's weight, his human half unable to keep up. Yato turned and pushed his shoulder against the main part of the Halo-Detector, his neck bend down at an awkward angle.

"Yato!" Hiyori cried out as she landed. She stumbled towards him but her calls to him were drowned out by the Auto. Kuoto's bloodied hand slapped onto the control panel, the metal contraptions that replaced his bones showed from the tears in his skin. The people gasped as their picture perfect co-captain pathetically heaved himself up onto the ledge, looking like a nightmare version of The Terminator. The rip Yato had make over his eye now stretched past his teeth to his jaw line. The naked red light that had once hid under his fake human eyes blinked rapidly as it tried to warn him of the massive damage

"I'll crush you, Yaboku!" His battle cry splattered blood against the screen. It was as if time went in slow motion. Hiyori ran up against the slant, Yato trying desperately not to let his other leg come down. Kuoto raised his other arm, his hand wrapped around his taser. It all happned so fast. All in a single moment.

The ship suddenly righted itself. Kuoto slammed the button again, the taser shocking it with power until the ship caused him to roll back to the floor. Hiyori stumbled and fell, her head meeting the floor hard, the ear piece of her helmet all but shattering under the hit. The crowd cheering as Tenijin came back on screen, walking on his own two feet like no human has done in centuries. Yukine frantically climbing up the stairs to the stage. Yato's boot slipping down into the hole in the floor, and the Halo-Dectector coming down on him like a gavel confirming his death sentence.

Yato stopped moving.


	16. Chapter 16

She supported him. Their breaths mingled as they walked straight, his feet dragging as he stumbled. He took a heavy hit, his side was probably already bruised, but it was hidden under the sturdy stitching of wearalls. She still had dried blood on her cheek and forehead, the specks of it being cleaned off by her sweat. She wasn't dizzy anymore, but she still struggled to walk with his arm around her shoulder. She held onto his wrist as tight as she could, grunting under the weight.

The sun beat down on the Earth, it's rays practically sizzling off the brown dirt and garbage. Even as she lead them away from the city, the heat was hardly bearable. Yato looked up when she walked them around the side of a truck trailer, his eyes bulged when he saw a perfectly cut hole in the side, just big enough for a Wall-E and their compactor.

"In here." she said, tugging him inside. The trailer had a mattress in the corner along with a first aid kit, TV, and a fridge. It was dirty and dark, but she moved easily in it. It dawned on Yato this must be where she lived. Not knowing what to do, he listened to her when she told him to sit down anywhere. He learned earlier it's best not to argue with this Wall-E. She went to the fridge and pulled out a ice pack, coming back to hand it to him with a smile.

"Thank you for saving me," she said, sitting in front of him. Yato blinked, his cheeks heating at the genuine kindness.

"Y-you're welcome, uh," Yato's eyes flicked to her stitched-in name, "Sakura."

"This is the least I can do," her eyes did the same with a playful smile, "Yato?" The red of his skin stretched to his neck.

"It's a nickname!" Yato waved his arms but winced and regretted it instantly. Sakura took his hand and gently lead it back to his side.

"Well, I like it!" She decided. They both smiled. The work day was over and Sakura felt it was dangerous to walk back to the city alone. Even though Yato promised he would be more than okay to make it back, she won with the same ferocity that got him here in the first place. So they talked, and laughed, and argued. Yato arguing a young woman shouldn't have a gapping hole in the wall of her house, Sakura insisting a piece of wood blends in just fine.

"Hey, wanna do something fun?" Sakura asked. Yato perked up from the ramen she gave him.

"Mm-hm!" Yato mumbled around a mouthful of noodles. Sakura beamed and made her way to the television. Yato's eyes wandered down to her feet, her ankle was bruised in the shape of a hand. She had thanked Yato, but in reality he didn't know why he saved her. She wasn't the first Wall-E to be attacked, by those infected or otherwise, but before he knew it he had jumped in. She looked familiar, that's what he told himself. The beads caught his attention, he had seen her in recruitment and accessories like that were hard to miss. It wasn't something he ever did before. But he also never did something fun.

It was nighttime and dark in the little trailer, so when the television burst to life, colors dancing around the room, Yato nearly dropped his food in shock. Sakura turned back to him, smiling from ear to ear. She quickly got up and dragged the mattress around to the front, sitting on it and patting the spot next to her. Yato crawled forward a bit slow, it had been a while since he watched tv, ignoring the city's advertisements. But the dancing yellow creatures intrigued him in a way they hadn't before when he was comprising them into a cube.

"I found one that works! But this is the only movie I managed to get that wasn't scratched." She sounded like the idea upset her. Yato didn't like that.

"I like it!" He stated, looking her in the eyes. Her face twisted, then she busted out laughing at the seriousness of his statement. Yato's face caught fire again, but he laughed too. The action was still foreign to his lungs. The movie's credits rolled long after they fell asleep, hurt limbs tangled up awkwardly on the mattress.

They went to work together after that. Sakura introduced him to the larger tribes of Wall-Es that stayed together, and often times they found themselves there to drink and party the night away. Stories of infections were still far and few between, but they preferred to be back in the trailer before sundown. Yato decided to keep close to her, the female Wall-Es were very rarely seen alone, something his friend didn't seem to understand until recently. He only snuck off so he could surprise her with Twinkies and working movies.

At night she'd teach him how to mend clothes and draw, badgering him when he finally fixed the hole in the wall and rigged the door to open and close with a push of a button. They lived that way, together, for a short time. Getting closer and closer. He told her of his past, his heritage, and she sadly said she couldn't relate. She was orphaned as a teenager and like most Wall-Es decided this was the best course of survival.

They lasted until the virus got worse. Until the city was more disease than sanity and work was a battle zone. They stuck together like glue, but even that couldn't help against numbers. He remembers her face, his systems able to bring it up in painful, blinding clarity that no human brain could ever accomplish. He remembers the way she said his nickname in every tone possible. The one they both grew fond of.

Yato.

Yato!

"Yato!"

"Yato! Yato, Wake up! Please!" Hiyori shouted over the chaos. Yukine knelt next to her, tears gathering in his eyes. Yato's torso was crunched, his back bled from around his hooks and his hair was matted from the crack in his skull.

Once the ship righted, the humans were able to get up. The captain as well. Tenijn walked back onto the screen on his own two feet, followed by Bishamon, Kazuma, and a securely tied up and shut down Auto. His face had morphed from pride and accomplishment to one of horror when he pulled up a screen showing the Halo-Detector and saw Yato underneath, Hiyori and Yukine painfully trying to lift it off his body.

Tenjin hit the button, the Halo-Detector opened, and Hiyori dragged Yato out and onto her lap. The order came over the speakers for all hands to report to the stage and for humans to brace themselves. One of the Secur-T took the plant and placed in the Halo-Detector, it was scanned and confirmed. The ship announced it's count into hyper space.

Hiyori let out a sob, letting the tears drip down her cheeks. The drops fell on the Wall-E, his face not even twitching. Hiyori moved to wipe them, her fingers lingering on his face. She whispered his name again, pleading. Yukine sobbed it louder, burying his tears in Yato's torso.

Heaven's Sun whirled to life, the entire ship buzzing with a power that hasn't been used since it broke Earth's atmosphere. Hiyori tugged Yukine forward by the shirt, her free arm wrapping around him. Yukine hugged her back, his other hand refusing to let go of Yato's.

The ship jumped into hyperspace. The humans fell back over and clung together for dear life. Tenjin did the same with Bishamon and Kazuma. Hiyori braced the two boys in her arms as reality around them twisted and stretched. They grunted against the strain, holding Yato even tighter. Then, just as suddenly as it happened, it stopped. The ship floating for a moment before letting Earth's gravity pull it in. Everyone shouted as fire lit up along the windows and sides of Heaven's Sun. The ship rumbled as it crashed through the pollution layer and plummeted towards the Earth's crust.

By the time the city came into view, Kazuma came up the stairs with Masaomi of all people. Practically carrying the human against the ship's landing. Behind them was a hovering stretcher and a couple more nurses. Together they lifted Yato onto the bed as the ship docked. The people rocked a little as the massive suspensions caught the ship, dust showering everywhere, and the bridges automatically connecting to the exits.

"Everyone clear a path!" Tenjin commanded over the intercom, "The closest exit is off to the right of my lobby. Go, now!" The humans were already forming a path so that Yato could be rushed through. Some of the Secur-T were already there to meet them, handing out oxygen filters. Hiyori tried to turn on her helmet, but the broken headpiece made it impossible. She accepted the filter. It looked like a newer version of Yato's.

"Wait," Hiyori said. She rushed over to Yato and dug around in his pockets. She pulled out the iPod, crushed, and some candy he must have stole from somewhere. Then she found it, happy to find the filter miraculously unharmed.

"Miss Eve, we have a newer one-"

"No," Hiyori cut off Kazuma, "it has to be this one." No one stopped her as she slipped the triangle over his bloodied mouth and nose. It shocked her how different he looked, how she'd forgot what a Wall-E looks like on Earth. He was so different when she first met him. She stared at him as a glass casing circled around his body and sealed in clean air. Hiyori looked at her own reflection for a moment longer, let go, and turned her boots on.

"Follow me," she said, and again no one argued. The door opened and natural light seeped in. The outside air hit them like a slap in the face, they coughed as dust and pollution assaulted their lungs. Hiyori didn't even spare it a thought, taking off towards the west.

"W-Wait! Hiyori!" Yukine called. He helped Kazuma and the other escapees push Yato away from the city port and across the cleaned trash land. Masaomi and a nurse following behind in their chairs. Some of them looked around in awe at the massive cubes of compresses trash as they kicked up dirt along the ground. Hiyori lead them to the yard of truck trailers stopping when she noticed, closed up, they all looked the same.

"Hiyori?" Yukine looked up when her shadow stopped. The sun was odd, filtered brown and nothing like the yellow or white masses he's seen from the ship. Something in front of him moved. Yukine flinched. A creature? It's front was turned up towards Hiyori.

"Nora!" The Eve cried in relief, "Take us to your house, okay?" The creature, Nora, seemed to understand, and scuttled off to the left. Hiyori zipped after it and the rest followed. They passed massive rectangle containers- Earth houses? Before stopping at a larger one.

"Over here!" She called them over. Hiyori landed and flipped the switch, causing the box to whirl and one of the walls to fall towards them. Kazuma stepped back and held an arm out in front of Masaomi, eyeing the contraption wearily. But Hiyori didn't even hesitate, stepping up the ramp and into the trailer.

"Bring him in here. Masaomi, do you have your kit?" Hiyori flipped on all the mis-matched lights as they walked past her. It was a tight fit, but as long as Masaomi and Kazuma could work, that's all that mattered.

"I never leave without it!" Masaomi held up the white box, patting the red cross. They pushed Yato into the center of his little home.

"I just processed the Auto's blue-prints from the captain. I have all the information I need to work with Yato's model." Kazuma's eyes flicked over his screens once more before holding his breath and nodding to Masaomi. The glass cover slid back under the stretcher, and the two got to work.

"Good. Yukine?" Hiyori looked over at the anxious Mo. He stood at attention when his name was called.

"You see that switch next to you?" Hiyori pointed to the left of his head.

"Yes?"

"I need you to push it when I say, and let go when I say stop." Hiyori tried her scanner, happy to see it still worked. Yukine hit the button, flinching with the rest of the occupants when the entire wall spun. She scanned the shelves and started pulling out random spare parts, passing them to one of the nurses that squeezed in the back.

"Kazuma, tell me what he needs." Hiyori looked at the Major General, who nodded. Yato was hooked up to a heart monitor and had a tube stuck down his throat. They flipped him and worked on a new mother board, working to save the memory chip. Meanwhile the nurse had Yukine help stitch and patch the skin around Yato's hooks. When those was done, Kazuma still looked grim, his glasses running a mile a minute as it preformed tests and scans. It seemed like they worked for days but what was instead only an hour at most. Kazuma relaying the needed materials, Hiyori yelling at Yukine to start and stop as she scanned for the needed objects.

Yato was being put back together like Humpty Dumpty, not a single reaction coming from him in any way. A new chip, speaker, laser finger, even re-fastening the hooks on his back. The captain, Kofuku, Diakoku, Hiyori's parents, Typ-Es, Wall-Hs, Secur-Ts, and the escapees all stood a couple feet outside the trailer. Quiet with worry as the group rushed to save the cyborg. Masaomi took his hands off, Kazuma did as well. He scanned three times before he looked outside.

"Outside! Move! He needs to charge right now!" Kazuma shouted as he and Yukine started to push. The crowd shuffled back as Yato was parked just past the ramp. Hiyori and Yukine held his arms at an award angle so the sun light completely cover his fore-arms' solar panels. Kazuma called over the Typ-Es.

"Stimulate the circuits with a small voltage, just to get it going." Kazuma whispered to Take. The cyborg nodded and pulled out a smaller dagger, clicking it on. Yukine tensed and eyed the offending object as it grew closer, taking Yato's hand in his. Masaomi held the Wall-E's head up as the cyborg waved the object up and down the back of Yato's neck. Small shocks crackled off and jumped around the naked chips and wires.

"Stop that's enough." Kazuma put a hand on Take's wrist. Everyone held their breath. After a moment or two, a beep was heard. Yato's speaker let out soft static as the beeping got stronger and more persistent. Everyone stood straighter when a long, higher pitched sound echoed. Yato's chest expanded in a deep sigh and everyone leaned in. After a couple moments, Yato's eyes opened. They looked clear. Too clear. Like they've never seen horror or known sadness, not the least bit dazed or confused.

"Yato?" Hiyori questioned as he sat up. He didn't answer. Hiyori's repeat was drowned out by the sound of cheering. The former passengers cried out and hugged each other, over joyed that the Wall-E that fought so hard was the last one standing. Hiyori looked across the table at Yukine, who also looked unsure. Yato turned towards him to slid off the table, not sparing anyone a glance. Instead he scanned the horizon, eyes fixing on something in the trailer.

Yukine let out a choked sound as Yato's hand slid out of his. The Wall-E brushed past his friends and made his way into his home. Hiyori called out to him, louder this time. The crowd's excitement hushed at the sound of the Eve and the Mo shouting out again. They followed him into the trailer. Hiyori felt her eyes grow hot, an impossible thought crossed her mind.

"Yato? Yato, I'm so sorry I got you involved in all of this. I didn't mean for you to get so hurt and I-" Hiyori flinched when Yato knocked down his treasures from off the shelf. Yukine tried to ask what he was doing, but Yato only stared at the floor. His arm came up over his shoulder, his hand grasping nothing. Hiyori put a hand up to her open mouth as she watched the hooks on his back open and close. The Wall-E scanned the room again, making his way towards the old television.

"Hey wait!" Yukine walked forward, grabbing his guardian's arm and stopping him from pulling out another compactor.

"This-This is your stuff, right? Don't throw it away!" Yukine pleaded, shaking his arm. The Wall-E blinked down at him like he just noticed the Mo.

"Don't. Don't tell me- your memory too?" Yukine's voice squeezed as he clung to older cleaner. Eyes looking up at him, wet and pleading.

"My sensors have indicated the objects as pollution. I have been ordered to compress them." The Wall-E spoke in a frank tone, expression neutral. He grabbed the compactor and walked past Yukine without another word, leaving the kid with an open mouth and crying eyes. Hiyori stepped between the pile of capybara toys and Yato, fists curled at her sides as she fought to keep her lips from trembling. Yato stopped a foot away from her, looked her up and down, then bowed slightly.

"Excuse me, miss, there appears to be garbage by you. Please, allow me to pick it up." Yato asked.

"No," Hiyori replied, "Y-Yukine! The TV. Put the tape in and hit the power button!" Hiyori shouted in desperation. Yukine did as he was told, fumbling around the foreign machine. The screen flickered to life, the boy capybara and girl capybara safely on the island and leaning in for a kiss. It captured Yato's attention for a couple seconds, his eyes reflecting the dancing colors. Then he turned back to Hiyori. She held he breath as he looked at her.

"Miss, please allow me to clean up the mess." Yato tried again.

"No," Hiyori's chin tightened, "No, this isn't junk. This isn't a mess. This your stuff! You love this stuff!" Hiyori shouted at him, gesturing to the movie and the matching knick-knacks on the ground.

The Wall-E looked a little unsure as he straightend, but his attention drifted to the wall next to him. He reached for more of the objects, but Hiyori caught his hand. He looked down at it in mild shock, his eyes watching her naked hand intertwine with his.

"Yato." Hiyori whispered for his attention again. He looked back to her, not moving as she stepped in his personal space. She looked sad.

"My name is Yaboku, number 001-P," he spoke quietly to her. She let out a dry sob, his fingers flinching against hers at the sound.

"Yato," she said again. Hiyori brought her other hand up to his face, letting the pads of her fingers graze across a bandage on his cheek. He didn't move, and he didn't look away from her. She let his eyes look her up and down, this time slower and with more focus. He wasn't just scanning her for protocol.

"Yato, my name is Hiyori," she sucked in a breath, "and you named the Mo behind you, Yukine. You adopted him." Some tears dripped from her long lashes. Yato looked at them, he tried to bring something up in his scanners. She appeared to be in pain, but there was no sign of serve injury. In fact, the one in pain was him. Something was wrong with his chest but his sensors didn't have a reason for it. He kept trying, until her thumb traced lightly across his cheek bone and he forgot what he was doing. It was warm. She was warm.

"You did it," Hiyori continued, tears falling freely now with hiccups lacing her words, "You brought the humans back to Earth. You don't have to be alone anymore, Yato."

"You dont have to be alone anymore, Yato." Another voice echoed in his head. Brought up by the back-up save files. Suddenly, his mind was taken elsewhere. For a split second he wasn't here, but several miles in the city. For a moment he was on the ground and a woman was stubbornly telling him to let her help. For an instant there was blood on his hands and a warm body in his arms and a hand on his cheek. Things were dangerous here, his friend was hurt and where was his kid? His kid could be hurt too or alone somewhere if Hiyori wasn't there with him!

"I can't be alone cause then who will be with Yukine and Hiyori?" Yato shouted at the person in front of him. The Eve flinched back and Yato did too. He quickly went to apologize for yelling suddenly at a stranger. But the girl in front of him looked familiar.

"Hiyori?" Yato repeated dumbly, "Hiyori!" It clicked, the girl in front of him was Hiyori! Yato dropped the compactor in his hand and tackled her in a huge hug. She cried out and buried her tears in his chest, sobbing as he laughed. Something tickled the back of his brain, he turned around to see Yukine standing nervously behind him. The kid kept looking at him with painful anticipation, his face just as wet as Hiyori's.

"What are you waiting for, Yukine? An invitation?" Yato didn't even give his kid time to perk up, he reached an arm around the kid and pulled him in the group hug. Yukine spun and clung to him too, fist bunching the back of his clothes next to Hiyori's. The front of Yato's wearalls getting a thorough wash.

Yato looked over Hiyori's head, heart all but stopping at the sight of a mass of people standing outside his trailer. They were cheering and hugging, some were even trying to dance. Most of the chairs were no where to be found as the humans let their toes dig into the dirt, clean of trash Yato had long since picked up. His chest swelled and squeezed at the same time. He imagined this is what Heaven truly looked like.

"Well come on! What are we waiting for?" Yato looked down at the two sniffling people in his arms, "Lets go show them around!" He beamed at them, grabbing them by the hands and pulled them down the ramp towards their cheering friends. Kofuku and Daikoku came to hug them, followed closely by Kazuma and the other cyborgs and Hiyori's family.

"Oh honey," Hiyori's mother gave her daughter a hug, "We're so proud of you."

"You preformed your job to the fullest and never gave up. We couldn't ask for a better little girl." Hiyori's father clasped her shoulders.

"Thanks dad," Hiyori said, wiping a tear. To her surprise, her father turned to Yato.

"I heard it all from my son! Are you the boy that followed my baby girl across space?" He asked with a wide smile, his face squished under the clear mask he wore. Yato mirrored the expression and held out a hand.

"Yes I am! My name is Yato!" Yato stuck out a hand and waited patiently for her father to do the same. When he did, Yato grasped it firmly- but not enough to hurt- and shook it. HIyori's dad copied the action with vigor.

"Does this mean I can marry your daughter, sir?" Yato blurted out. Yukine and Hiyori's mom nearly fell over. Hiyori blushed a bright shade of red as her father and brother cackled loudly.

"I don't see a ring!" Kofuku called from the side.

"Yeah?" Yato shouted back, "Well I don't see one on you either!" Yato grinned as Kofuku whined and Daikoku shouted profanities with a red face. Yato spun around and pulled the kid in close.

"Hey where's the ring?" Yato whispered to Yukine. The kid's face somehow got even redder.

"Wha-? Ring! You never said anything about a ring!" Yukine fires back. Yato rolled his eyes.

"Come on, a smart kid like you? There's no way you missed the chemistry Hiyori and I got goin' on. A true wing man would have had the good sense to pick one up!"

"Are you serious!" Yukine squawked, he grabbed Yato by the ears and started shaking his head back and forth. Yato cried out in mock pain as his kid roared at him. Something squeaked and chirped under their fight.

"Nora!" Yato cheered at the sight of his friend. The little cockroach had always been sneaky, somehow finding them through the new crowd. Yato saw she had a plastic milk jug ring, holding it up as high as she could.

"Haha! That's my girl! Way to follow the plan!" Yato grinned and plucked the thing from her, laughing as she jumped on his palm and scurried to his shoulder.

"What is that?" Yukine squinted at the thing, annoyed Yato talked to it like he talked to him but fascinated at the sight of a real live animal.

"She's not a 'that', her name is Nora," Yato explained. He plucked her off his shoulder, gently squeezing her sides despite her hissing and squirming. Yukine jolted when he dropped the creature into his hands.

The creature was extremely light and felt kinda hard. Yukine stared at the thin antenna as they inspected his clean skin, and marveled at the hard shiny shell that shifted over her many legs. She clicked at him and scrapped her arm against his palm, turning to shriek at Yato.

"Yukine, it's not nice to stare at a lady," Yato chided. Yukine gasped and sputtered out excuses. He then stopped short and wondered why he was trying to defend himself against something that was clearly not lady-like. Yukine scrunched up his face and glared down at Nora. The cockroach only chirped and flicked her antenna.

"Oh Hiyori!" Yato skipped back over to the Eve. She had wandered off to talk to the other Secur-T, but excused herself to turn and smile wide at Yato. He stopped and beamed at her, Hiyori walked a couple steps closer.

"Hey," Yato said.

"Hey," Hiyori copied, just as giddy. Yato blushed and coughed awkwardly in his hand. He then showed the ring in his palm, it clearly being too big to fit on her finger.

"So, um, I got a ring. Or, uh, should a say Nora got a ring, so I could, uh."

"Nora! I'm so glad she's alright!" Hiyori clapped her hands and look a little past the Wall-E.

"Where is she?" Hiyori already spotted the creature, making her way to Yukine. Yato looked down at the plastic band in his hand and after a brief moment, let out a sigh, and pocketed the thing.

"Hiyori!" Yato whined and followed after her. Trying and failing to grab her attention from the cockroach while Yukine badgered him to knock it off.

A cough interrupted their merriment. They turned around and stopped short. The captain stood, being helped by a long-haired Pr-T, with Bishamon. She held onto a rope which coiled tightly around the Auto, still unconscious and on the ground. The humans around them hushed at the sight.

"I've come to a decision," Tenjin addressed Yato, "but before it goes into motion I would like your opinion, Yato." Yato looked surprised, his eyes drifted to Bishamon, who stubbornly glared at the dirt that now soiled her boots.

"What?" Yato asked cautiously, his eyes dragging up from the limp Kuoto to the captain.

"I've decided to keep the Auto alive," he paused for the gasps of the crowd.

"You're kidding!" Yukine stepped forward, hatred lining his face. Yato put an arm out to stop him.

"What's that got to do with me?" Yato said after a pause. Tenjin cleared his throat around the filter.

"Well, he is driven and his systems are hardwired to follow orders. Now that his memory of The Crafter and A1-13 has been wiped, I was hoping to re-program him to be a protector of all living things. Someone who can oversee and regulate the activity, so that something like this doesn't happen again."

"We were hoping you could help with the programming aspect. Especially since your systems really are so similar." Tenjin watched Yato's face, impressed to find it so hard to read. Hiyori came next to him and grabbed his arm. She insisted he didn't have too and Yukine agreed. But of course, Yato nodded.

"I'll do it." Yato agreed. His eye brows raised when Tenjin hobbled over and stuck out a hand. Yato grasped it and they shook. Confirming a plan for the future.

Once things became settled, Yato took over the cleaning aspect, there still being much to do. Him and the Wall-Hs, now honorary Wall-Es, compressed the more difficult stuff. Humans handled the basic pick up and transport. The Mos were taught how to work the junk yard machinery and had a blast crushing large objects, and were planned to move to buildings further down the road.

The Secur-Ts and other service cyborgs worked on rebuilding the city to a more habitual and efficient living environment. The Pr-Ts oversaw designs and helped with keeping the humans clean. And the Eves were to continue monitoring the Earth for other life forms and were to catalogue their findings to the new and improved Auto (now called Word) along with his two guides, called Noras.

The creation of cyborgs halted, the information stored away and protected with the Noras, making Hiyori the last cyborg to ever be created.

The sakura plant made its home just to the side of a little trailer out side the city, roped off and under the strict care of a Mo, an Eve, and a Wall-E.


End file.
